The Right Guy
by Ninjalara
Summary: After Venus breaks up with Mike, Mike decides to save the relationship by buying a pet turtle. But Michelangelo isn't the only one who wants a second chance at love. Completed!
1. Love and Devotion

****

The Right Guy

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Shelly.

Note: This fic is rated PG-13 for sexual references (trust me, they aren't that bad) and no doubt some swearing.

Chapter 1: Love and Devotion. 

"You owe me ten bucks," Leo said smugly, blocking Raphael's view of the television. 

"Yeah? What for?" Raphael questioned with an untrusting and impatient tone.

"Venus is breaking up with Mike. I just overheard a bit of their conversation outside. I told you they'd last longer than three days. Now pay up. You lost the bet," Leo demanded. Raphael rolled his eyes at Leo's nagging tone before getting up from the couch to fetch ten dollars out of his room. 

Donatello sighed and shook his head while continuing to work at his computer. He could sense the upcoming debate. He stared out of his bedroom door, watching as Leo frustratingly counted Raphael's pile of coins which supposedly added up to ten dollars, much to Raph's amusement. Donatello contemplated whether or not he should close his bedroom door to avoid being distracted from his work. He used to have his computer in the main living area, but that proved to be a horrible decision when Mike and the others bothered him constantly. Don was more than happy when Leo finally suggested one day to move the computer into his room. It took a while to move the desk, computer, work sheets, electrical equipment and outlets, but in Donatello's eyes, it was worth it. Now when he didn't want to be bothered, he would close his bedroom door, but he usually kept it open so he felt he was included in family conflicts and conversations. Today he decided to leave the train carriage door open.

After successfully counting ten dollars out of one-cent pieces, Leo and Raph sat back down on the couch and continued to watch the basketball game being shown on the television screen. Raphael turned the volume down, not really interested in the sport any more, and looked at Leo instead. "I'm guessing that you're happy that Mike and Venus have broken up," Raphael started. '_Here we go_,' Donatello thought from his computer desk, clearly overhearing the conversation outside.

Leonardo didn't look at Raph. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you know. You're a guy, and Venus is a girl. The only girl I might add," Raphael hinted. Leo looked at him defensively.

"Yeah? Well you're a guy as well," Leo rebutted. Raphael smirked at Leonardo's response.

"Oh come on. Admit it. You're happy that Venus is single again," Raphael continued to push. Leo held a sly smile on his face.

"I'll only admit it when you do," Leonardo said sneakily. Raph tried to keep his face unresponsive, but that still wasn't enough to fool Leo. "I know you like her," Leo added. Raphael's cheeks began to heat up and slightly blush.

"Yeah? How the hell would you know?" Raphael replied strongly, taking a slightly angry yet embarrassed tone.

"Well you do take her to that laser game building a lot, not to mention all of the sparring sessions. You've trained harder than ever since she's arrived," Leonardo implied. The turtle looked at Raphael's face and smiled to himself, knowing that Raph didn't like his true feelings to be known. 

"Yeah, well what's with the whole 'I-want-to-learn-about-chi' act? Huh? And then there's the times when you side with her when there's an argument, and you always allow her to sit beside you when you're in the Hummer," Raphael responded, then smirked with satisfaction when Leo started to blush. Establishing that they both liked the same girl, Raphael continued. "At least with sparring, I get a bit more physical contact," Raphael boasted, quickly turning the conversation somewhat into a competition.

Leonardo rolled his eyes. "I don't really care how much contact I have with her. Just having Venus as company is good enough for me," Leo said in a quieter tone. Raphael looked at him quizzically. 

"So, you mean to say that you're not interested in… you know," Raphael questioned, becoming surprisingly more interested in Leo's opinions about the matter. 

"I'm saving myself for marriage," Leonardo answered proudly. Raphael stared at him blankly, and when he realised that Leo was being serious, Raphael burst into a laughing fit.

"Can I just ask why?" Raphael queried after he had calmed down a bit.

"I want her to love me for who I am, not what I can give her. It's the honorable thing to do," Leonardo answered sternly. Raphael still couldn't believe what he had just been told.

"You need to get with the times. Everybody's doing it," Raphael generalised, wanting to know a better reason as to why Leonardo had chosen this lifestyle.

"Not 'everybody' is doing it. There are a lot of people out there with the same beliefs as me. I just want it to be special," Leonardo explained further. 

"But it can still be special outside of marriage. It can also be fun. You know, f, u, n. You should learn that word," Raphael patronised.

Leonardo rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant. I want something to look forward to. I just think that sex is the furthest you can go in a relationship. A lot of people do it too early, and then in order to keep the relationship going they have to keep finding other ways to please their partner, whether that be through gifts or romantic outings. I believe that sex is the best thing you can give to another person, and I want to make sure that that person is the right one for me. Some people don't respect their bodies and treat it as though it is nothing, therefore repeatedly putting themselves through unemotional relationships, or may even become unfaithful to their partner as there is nothing strong keeping the couple together," Leo debated, putting forward a number of good points to defend his decision.

Raphael just stared at him blankly. "F, U, N," he repeated. Leonardo frowned.

"That's going your major argument, isn't it?" Leonardo sighed.

"Sure is," Raphael replied. 

"How would you know anyway?" Leonardo asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Casey's told me about a few of his experiences," Raphael informed Leo.

"Okay, firstly, I didn't want to hear that… or picture that. Secondly, one of those experiences ended up with Shadow," Leonardo continued to debate.

"Well maybe Casey isn't a good example," Raphael said. "But you're going on as if it's the end of the world!" Raphael shook his head, firm on his decision. "You got it all wrong Leo. I believe that you should do it when it feels right and when you're in love. But I also believe that you can do it without any emotional attachment, and it's a good form of exercise. It's proven to be quite healthy," Raphael explained his views.

Don nodded at Raph's last point. It was proven by scientists to be a good form of exercise. Intrigued by the usually hushed topic, Donatello continued to listen to the conversation, impressed that for once they were actually discussing something, not just yelling at each other. 

"But how do you know if you're truly love them or not, if you know that you are going to be offered sex in the relationship?" Leonardo questioned, leaving Raphael to actually think.

"But you've gotta try before you buy," Raphael pointed out.

"So if you find the perfect woman, and can get along with her great in conversation and can tell her anything, but then find out she's bad in bed, you mean to tell me that you're going to dump her? You know, sex isn't everything, and if you marry for sex, then you're gonna have a horrible life when you're fifty. I really value companionship. You know, sometimes ignorance is bliss. I like the fact that my future wife won't have anyone to compare me to, or know that someone out there isn't better. Hey Don! What do you think about all this?" Leo called across the room. Donatello froze, realising that they knew he was listening.

"I don't want to get involved," came a reply from Donatello's train carriage. 

"If you don't want to get involved, then how come you have your door open?" Raphael called out. Donatello sighed, remembering how well his family knew him.

"I don't think either of you have a clue on what you're talking about," Donatello commented from his room.

"What!?" Leo exclaimed.

"Excuse me?!" Raph responded.

"Well, Leo has raised some really good points about true love, companionship and commitment, but you're forgetting that Venus is the only female of our species, so it's not as though you are going to be tempted by someone else. Also, we're mutant turtles. How on earth are you going to get officially married? With that said, if Venus wants to do it before marriage, then I think that you should reconsider, as you probably won't get another chance," Donatello analysed. Raphael nodded his head and smirked at Leonardo.

"But with you Raph, I think that Venus is the type to want commitment. She's well aware that she's the only female, and she also knows that we would naturally look at her in a physical way. With four guys to chose from, if you show that you just want one thing from her, then you are most likely going to drive her away, and that's probably one of the many reasons why she's breaking up with Mike right at this very moment. She knows that she's the clan's future and that she's going to end up having children one day, so she is searching for the right partner but she also doesn't want to sleep around and cause tension between us," Donatello explained.

Leonardo and Raphael thought of what Donatello said, realising that they hadn't put themselves in her shoes. "You can really sympathise with people, you know that Don," Leonardo stated honestly.

"Yeah," Raphael said quietly, still thinking about what Donatello had said. "I guess that's all part of being gay," he stated.

"…What?!" Donatello's fingers froze over the computer keyboard, pondering over Raphael's last words. 

"We said that you're more sympathetic than us because you're gay," Raphael rephrased. Shocked, Donatello rushed to his bedroom door and poked his head out of the room to see if Raph was serious or not.

"You think I'm gay!" Donatello cried out in worry when he saw that both turtles were being sincere.

"Well… yeah," Raph shrugged.

"Not that it's bad to be gay," Leo said.

"But, but…" Donatello started, not sure on what to say.

"Well you do read books like 'Pride and Prejudice', " Leo reasoned.

"And you had this uncanny sense of fashion design when it came to spray painting the Hummer and my Hog," Raphael pointed out.

"You like classical, dance and techno music," Leo stated.

"And you use the Internet for reasons other than porn," Raphael said.

"You are a pacifist ninja and disapprove of fighting, my son," Splinter said with a wise tone as he crossed the room with a cup of tea in his hand. The old rat entered his meditation room, leaving Leo and Raph slightly worried about how much he had heard of the conversation, and leaving Donatello speechless and shocked about what he had just said. 

"But, I'm not gay!" Donatello protested.

Leo and Raph were silent for a second. "You sure?" Raph asked.

"Not that it's bad to be gay," Leonardo repeated, maintaining political correctness.

"I'M NOT GAY!" Donatello yelled once again. Leo and Raph continued to stare. With a frustrated snarl on his face, Donatello slammed his bedroom door shut. He plunked himself back into his computer chair and returned to his hermit crab-like activities, but not before considering the fact that he might be gay. '_Stupid Raph_'.

Leonardo and Raphael looked to each other and shrugged. They both turned when they heard someone enter the lair. It was Venus. The two males watched as Venus ran to her bedroom and closed the door, obviously upset about the breakup with Michelangelo. Raphael winked at Leo, while Leo smiled back. They slapped a high-five in slight celebration of the fact that Venus was single again. 

Leonardo and Raphael both looked towards Venus' door, then to each other yet again. "The game's on!"

*****

Venus stared into oblivion as she lay on her bed. Her wandering thoughts were cut short when there was a knock on the door. She sighed before opening it and jumped in surprise when a baby turtle was shoved in front of her face. "Hey Venus!" Mike said with such a bright and cheerful tone that it was scary. Venus looked at the baby pet shop turtle in his hands.

"Mike…" Venus started and pointed to the little shelled creature.

"I can explain," Mike said. Venus raised an eye-ridge in curiosity. She could tell that Mike was nervous and that he was trying his best to cover the pain he endured from the breakup just over two hours ago. "Well… you know how couples have children in order to save their relationship? Well, s… since we're not r… really a couple, and I, I don't really want to have children with you… yet…. I was thinking that we could get something simpler!" Mike explained, stuttering a bit and rushing the end part. Venus just stared at him.

"Oookay…" Venus said, not knowing what else to say. Mike took that as a cue to continue.

"See it'll be really cool. We can call him something like Squirtle or Blastoise-"

"Mike-"

"Or if Pokemon isn't your thing, then maybe we can call it Franklin-"

"Mike-"

"Or maybe after that turtle, Crush. You know, that turtle on 'Finding Nemo' that you say sounds like me-"

"Mike?"

"Yeah what?" 

"It's a female," Venus stated calmly. Michelangelo stared at her, before lowering his eyes to the little turtle squirming around in his hands.

"But, if she's a female, then what's that?"

"That's the tail."

"Oh," Mike said, feeling slightly foolish. "But that's okay, we can just call her Shelly," Mike said, trying to sound positive. Venus sighed and couldn't help but give him a small smile at his antics. She turned her head towards the main living room clock and acknowledged the time.

"It's late. Good night Mike," Venus said softly. She tried to close the door but Mike's hand blocked it.

"Do I get a good night's kiss?" Mike asked sweetly. He gave her his puppy dog face; the one he knew she couldn't resist. With a slight smile, Venus gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Good night Mike," Venus said again with a whisper. She closed the door, leaving Mike alone with Shelly in the living room. Michelangelo stared at the baby pet shop turtle in his hands. '_Female? How can she tell?_'

__

To be continued…


	2. Driving Miss Daisy

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Kelly.

Mica- Whoops! Sorry about that mistake with Casey and Shadow. Actually the only things I know about her are from other fanfictions. Everybody just says that Shadow is his daughter and they never include the adopted part, which's most likely why I got it wrong. But now I know… whoever Gab is! But hey, as an excuse, it's my story, and if I want Shadow to be his biological daughter, then I can! :D

Chapter 2: Driving Miss Daisy. 

The aroma of food filled the room. Mike had yet again cooked another fantastic dinner for his family. With hungry faces, the turtles and their master gathered around the dinner table and sat down. Small talk about various issues was brought up although ultimately the feast was a quiet affair.

Venus stared at the brownish slop that steamed on her plate. She had tasted this weird combination of foods before and she knew that it was safe and delicious to eat, but yet she wasn't feeling hungry. Some movement on the table broke the gaze on her plate. The pet shop turtle was slowly plodding along the wooden surface, obviously lost and confused. Mike spotted the reptile.

"Oh, there you are Kelly!" Mike exclaimed as he picked her up and wandered back over to his seat. Leonardo looked up from the newspaper he was reading and swallowed the food that he was chewing.

"I thought you called her Shelly?" Leonardo questioned. Mike looked at him weirdly.

"No. I called her Kelly," Mike insisted. Leo frowned.

"I really thought that you called her Shelly," Leonardo pondered and scratched his head. He was certain that his memory was correct.

"Leo, I think I'd remember what I called her," Michelangelo scoffed. With grubby fingers, Mike reached for the pizza in the center of the table and pulled out a slice. He tore off the tip of the juicy triangle and offered the small piece to the baby turtle on his lap. The whole family stopped what they were doing to watch Mike trying to get the reptile to take what was in his fingers. 

"Mike, you can't feed her pizza!" Donatello claimed as Mike smeared a bit of the barbecue sauce on her tiny beak. Michelangelo held a confused look on his face.

"Why not? We are turtles and we eat pizza. I just don't want her to feel left out. She's my little baby, aren't ya," Mike said with a compassionate voice, holding the turtle to his face, before cuddling Kelly as she squirmed. Donatello rolled his eyes, knowing that his words of advice would never find his tiny brain. Leonardo, Raphael and Venus all shook their heads and tried to ignore him. 

"Dragon Lord and the Rank have been very quiet during these last few months. They haven't been causing any trouble at all," Leonardo commented, changing the subject.

"Maybe they've finally gotten a taste of turtle. We kick their ass every time," Raphael sneered. Splinter gave him a stern look that showed that he didn't approve of his language. 

"Well, they aren't up to anything. They haven't even left their lair," Donatello commented.

"This might be a good time to plan ways on defeating them. I've been reading some of my scrolls. They say that in order to throw Dragon Lord and his followers into the mirror again, a Shinobi must find a way to reverse the dragon's chi energy stream and-" Venus explained. Donatello scoffed and rolled his eyes for the second time that night, interrupting Venus while doing so. 'What?" Venus asked, knowing full well that he disliked what she was saying. 

"Let me get this straight. We are going to defeat Dragon Lord by following some decaying parchments which are written in several ancient languages, some of which you can't even read properly, which supposedly tells us that we can destroy Dragon Lord with a 'magical' mirror by manipulating his chi energy, that frankly, doesn't exist as far as I've observed," Donatello patronised in one long breath, pulling apart and analysing everything that Venus said.

Venus glared at him, completely offended at what he had just voiced. "Chi energy exists Donatello. The scrolls were written when Dragon Lord was first captured, so I know that this plan will work," Venus argued.

"Hence, the scrolls are really old. So old that they didn't even have electricity back then," Donatello retorted.

"I don't need electricity. I only need to harness the chi. I am a Shinobi," Venus said, her eyes locking on to Don's.

"I don't think we can rely on your Obi-Wan Shinobi tricks, especially when you can't even perform most of them," Donatello accused, really upsetting Venus. In response, she slammed her hands upon the surface of the table in anger, stormed towards her bedroom and slammed the door. Once inside she sat on her bed and allowed the tears to fall. '_Why is he so hard on me?_' Venus wondered as she wiped a tear away from her cheek.

There was a lengthy silence at the dinner table. Feeling regret at what he said, Donatello continued to eat. Mike started cuddling Kelly again while Splinter took Leo's newspaper and started going through the various articles. Leonardo and Raphael's focus remained on Venus' door. This was a good time to make a move. Leo caught Raph's gaze and noticed his wink. At the same time both turtles stood up from their chair, stumbled over themselves and tried to make it to Venus' door first.

Raph, who was seated closer to the female's train carriage in the first place, had the advantage. "Eat my dust Leo!" He called cheekily as he started his bolt to the door.

"Not so fast!" Leo called out after him. Leonardo grabbed Raphael's trailing arm and pulled him back. He then whipped out one of his legs in order to sweep and trip up Raphael. With Raph on the floor, Leonardo had a clear run for the door. He bolted up to the train carriage, stopped, then gently knocked, as though he had walked over calmly. While waiting for an answer, Leonardo turned around and smiled evilly at Raphael who was still sprawled on the concrete ground. Donatello and Splinter watched the whole event from the table, and could only shake their heads at their immaturity. Mike was still preoccupied with Kelly, trying to get her head to come back out of her shell. 

"Who is it?" an upset feminine voice asked.

"It's Leo… Can I come in?" Leonardo asked softly. Raphael growled and fumed behind him. Venus slowly opened the door for Leo, then retreated back to her bed. Leonardo entered the room, but not before cheekily giving Raphael a thumbs-up, causing Raphael to growl once again.

"Are you alright?" Leonardo asked compassionately, squatting down to meet her eye level as she sat on the bed. She shook her head at his question and wiped away the rest of the tears that were on her face, not wanting Leo to see her cry. Sensing that she didn't really want to talk about it, Leonardo came up with a plan. "Do you want to get out of the lair for a while?" Leo asked softly, comfortingly holding her hand. Venus looked at him, as though she was deciding. "I can teach you how to drive the Hummer," Leo followed up. A small smile spread across Venus' mouth.

"I'd like that."

*****

The Hummer rolled forward and then stopped suddenly. Leonardo held on for dear life as Venus repeated the action again. The vehicle picked up speed before stopping suddenly, causing Leo to whack his head into the dashboard. He rubbed his head as Venus continued her stop-start rampage down the dark streets of Manhattan.

"Why is the car doing this?" Venus wondered out loud.

"Because you keep pulling on the hand brake!" Leo yelled as Venus pulled on the dark stick yet again, halting the vehicle to an abrupt stop.

"Oh! Sorry. I thought that it was the gear stick," Venus exclaimed as the Hummer stood motionless on the road while she figured a few important details out.

"But it's an automatic!" Leonardo told her quizzically. "That's why there are only two pedals," he explained, pointing to her feet.

"What's the other one for?" she asked gesturing towards the larger pedal with her foot.

"That's the brake," Leonardo tried his best to calmly explain.

"Then what's the hand brake for?" she asked. Leonardo groaned inwardly.

"Look. All you need to know is that the smaller pedal is 'go' and the larger pedal is 'stop'," Leonardo explained so that a child would understand. Venus nodded and bit her lip in concentration as she started her journey again. Leonardo watched her hold the steering wheel with both hands directly beside each other on the top, as though she was an old granny with sight impairment. Scared at looking at her technique, Leo turned his eyes to the road and immediately reached out and pulled the wheel so that the Hummer wouldn't collide with the oncoming vehicle. "We also drive on the right," Leo advised her, before shrinking in his seat in fear.

After ten minutes, Venus slowly got the hang of handling the vehicle. Leonardo pointed towards an undercover car park where she could practice her turns. There were very few cars parked, giving Venus a lot more room. She drove along the concrete at five miles per hour, heading for her first sharp turn. Leonardo all too easily noticed that she had overturned. "We're gonna crash!" Leo called out and ducked down. Five seconds later, the Hummer lightly bumped into one of the concrete pylons. Leonardo looked up, relieved that Venus was only going five miles per hour, although he was slightly angry, as she had more than enough time to stop the car.

"I'm sorry. I forgot where the brake was again," Venus said nervously. Leonardo's eyes softened, knowing that he couldn't stay angry at her.

"Don't worry. It's just a little dint in the bumper bar. Nothing serious. Now just reverse and head for the exit," Leo advised. Venus put the Hummer in reverse, only to slowly crash into the pylon behind her.

"Sorry," she said again. Leonardo remained calm, and regrettably motioned for her to continue. Venus slowly drove forward again.

"Stop!" Leo yelled, but to no avail. The size of the dint in the bumper bar had doubled. "Oh man!" Leo whined. Venus reversed… and crashed going five miles an hour, yet again. Leonardo groaned as Venus continued to go back and forth, slowly crashing each time, making the bonnet and the tailgate worse. She couldn't be stopped.

Leonardo's eye twitched as Venus drove forward yet again, predictably aiming for the same pylon. "OKAY! JUST STOP!" Leonardo snapped. Venus yanked on the hand brake causing Leo to whack his forehead into the dashboard again. He groaned and opened his side door, which quickly fell off due to the repeated bashing it had endured. 

"Sorry."

*****

Raphael growled as his muffler fell off again. Frustrated, he picked it off the ground and tried to attach it to his Hog. He was distracted from his work when the Hummer crawled in. Raphael stood mortified as he observed the crumpled tailgate, the detached passenger-side door and the white steam rising from the wrinkled bonnet. All of the lights had been cracked and the front bumper bar no longer existed.

Within seconds, Raphael had rounded everyone up. "How fast were you going!?" Donatello cried out, clutching his head as though he was in pain. 

"Five miles per hour," Leonardo said grimly. Don could tell from his tone that he was pissed.

"How can that be? The friggin' bumper bar's missing!" Raphael asked, still shocked. Venus just stood guiltily to the side. 

"She repeatedly crashed it," Leo said, trying to control his underlying anger. "She drove forward… then she drove back…the she drove forward again… then back…forward… back…" Leo explained further as his eye continued to twitch. The others slowly understood what he was saying.

"Looks like you've got some work to do Donny," Mike stated the obvious, still holding the little turtle in his hands as though it was attached to him like a bad smell.

"I'm sorry," Venus said quietly.

"Yeah, thanks Venus," Donatello said sarcastically, inwardly groaning at how much work was ahead of him.

"Would you like me to help you fix it?" Venus softly offered.

"No. Just forget about it! You've done enough already," Donatello snapped. Venus lowered her eyes to the ground and quietly exited the garage. Mike bounded after her with Kelly. Don circled around the vehicle to fully inspect the damage. Leonardo and Raphael joined him.

"Think on the bright side. At least you get to spray paint again. You know, you can put that sense of fashion design to good use," Raphael said. Donatello gave him a filthy glare.

"I'M NOT GAY!" Don yelled.

Leonardo put an arm around his shoulders. "Don, it's perfectly alright to be gay. We understand. Don't be ashamed to admit it," Leonardo said comfortingly. Donatello glared at Leo, then stared at Leo's hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong with you!? I'm not gay! Will you stop touching me!?" Donatello cried out again, bouncing his shoulders up and down to detach his brother's arm. He angrily stumbled out of the room to find some tools to work with, but mainly to get away from the accusing turtles. 

Raphael looked to Leo and noticed the massive bruise on his forehead. "What did she do? Punch your brains out?" Raph inquired, pointing to his forehead. Leonardo gave him an annoyed look.

"She thought the hand brake was the gear stick," Leonardo hissed under his breath. Raphael couldn't help but laugh. 

"Serves you right for tripping me up!" Raphael said with a strong smirk on his face. Leonardo glared at him, annoyed at the way he was making fun at his misfortune. Leo cast a sidelong glance to the Hog whilst Raph was still laughing.

"You know, your Hog is now the only form of transport we have," Leonardo said with a cruel tone. Raphael's laughter was abruptly stopped.

"Oh shit!"

__

To be continued…


	3. The Fast and the Furious

Disclaimer: Don't own any characters except for Nelly.

Chapter 3: The Fast and the Furious.

Half an hour later since the battered Hummer had returned to the lair's garage, a two-door four-wheel drive had appeared next to it. Pleased with himself, Raphael gathered up the rest of his family to show them the new vehicle they were going to use. Donatello whistled out loud. "Nice car you got us there, Raph," he complimented.

"Wow. This is probably the nicest thing you've done for us," Michelangelo admitted. The baby turtle was still found wriggling about in his hamburger grip. 

"Yeah. It is a very nice gesture; giving us a new car. I can't help but wonder what brought about this change of personality," Leonardo said with sarcastic innocence; a tone that only he could pull off. Raphael gave Leo a light glare before smiling at the others.

"Well you know, we can't all fit on _my_ newly polished and refurbished Hog," Raphael replied with a similar tone.

"I think this is the first non-selfish act you have committed," Leonardo said with the same false cheeriness.

"How did you get it?" Venus asked, breaking the superficial argument between the two males. Raphael looked at her blankly.

"I stole it," he said simply, as though it was something she should have already known. Venus crossed her arms over her chest, displeased at what he had committed. Raph sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine! I borrowed it without asking," Raphael said, trying to make his deed sound more appealing. Venus' facial expression remained the same. "Well they should have put on their steering wheel lock if they didn't want it to be taken!" Raph added, only making himself sound worse.

"I can't believe that you stole it! Someone out there is missing their car! They might need it to go to work or to pick up their children from school-"

"Hey Venus? How do you think got the Hummer in the first place?" Raphael replied, arms crossed while he interrupted the female turtle. Angry at the situation and the fact that the others found nothing wrong with what Raphael had done, she threw her arms up in frustration and stormed out of the room. 

Leonardo simply smirked. "Nice move, Raph. Nice move," Leo said with a tone that made Raphael's blood boil. He pushed past the blue wearing turtle and followed Venus down the ladder and back into the main living room. Raphael ran past and blocked her path.

"Look. Venus I'm sorry about what I said and did. But you know that we had to get some other vehicle," Raphael said stubbornly. Venus stared into his surprising soft eyes before lowering her gaze in slight forgiveness. A brief silence passed between them. "Listen. I was thinking… would you like to go ou-" Raphael's proposal for a date was stopped mid-sentence when the lair's sirens were sounded. _'Of all the bloody times…'_ Raphael thought in frustration as the rest of his family headed bounded into the main underground living quarters. Donatello ran straight towards his computer to see what the trouble was. All of the turtles crowded into his room and around his computer, making Don feel claustrophobic. With a few clicks of the mouse, Donatello realised why the sirens had gone off. 

"The dragons are on the move! It looks like they're heading to… the docks. They're heading to the docks," Don reported and clarified, whilst slapping Raph's hand when he fingered one of the many gadgets that accompanied the desk.

"To the turtle-mobile!" Leonardo announced, throwing his right fist dramatically into the air. Everyone stared at him. Nervous, Leo lowered his arm. "Well… we can't call it the Hummer… or Battle Shell… or Turtle Van…" Leonardo reasoned unconfidently. Raphael raised his right index finger and thumb to his forehead to make the 'loser' symbol. 

"Can I take Nelly?" Mike asked, shoving the baby turtle right in front of Leo's face. Startled, Leonardo shook his head.

"I thought it was Kelly?" Leonardo whispered to Don. The purple-wearing turtle responded with a shrug of his shoulders. Disappointed that he couldn't take Nelly with him, Michelangelo hurriedly searched for a place to put her for the time being. Unable to find anything decent, Mike left her in an open and empty pizza box. Donatello frowned at his decision; an expression which Mike noticed.

"So she can eat the left over pineapple pieces if she gets hungry," Mike innocently explained his choice of enclosure. Donatello slapped Mike on the back of the head, before going up with the rest of the family to the garage. 

With not much time to spare, Raphael rode off on his motorcycle, leaving the others behind in his dust. Leonardo eagerly sat behind the wheel of his new vehicle, as Michelangelo jumped in the passenger seat. Leo turned his head and found Venus and Donatello standing around outside. "Well come on! Hop in! We don't have all day!" Leo wailed.

Donatello cleared his throat. "It's a two-door," Donatello said calmly. Leonardo gave him a confused look. Donatello sighed. "Meaning that in order for us to get in, you have to get out first," Don explained calmly. Mike took the hint and clambered to the back seat with great difficulty. Leonardo stepped outside the car and allowed Donatello to pull back the top half of the seat so he could fit into the back… he didn't. 

Donatello rocked back and forth, not moving anywhere while doing so. Leonardo looked at him quizzically. "…I'm stuck! I'm stuck!" Donatello fretted. He was strongly wedged between the top of the folded down seat and the material roof of the four-wheel drive. Not having any time to protest, Mike yanked on Don's arms while Leonardo groped and pushed his thighs. His shell shifted a bit, but he was still stuck. Mike used his greasy pizza-sauced fingers and wiped what he could of Don's carapace so there would be less friction, causing Donatello to frown in disgust. With another tug of the arms and groping of the thighs, Donatello landed headfirst into the back seat.

Leonardo jumped in and smiled to himself when he found Venus sitting next to him. He crossed the broken wires near the steering wheel in order to get the car moving. Desperate to catch up to Raphael, Leonardo took off like a flash, with Donatello still upside-down in the back seat. 

It took ten minutes to drive to the docks… and another five to get out of the car. With the steering wheel lock safely protecting the two-door vehicle from being stolen by someone else, the four turtles briskly headed over to one of the dock's warehouses. They found Raphael spying through a window outside. "What took you guys? I could have whooped their asses by now!" Raphael commented, wanting an explanation. The four turtles glared at him.

"Nice car you got us Raph," Donatello hissed sarcastically, still rubbing off the grease on his carapace from Mike's fingers. Raphael simply shrugged and began to fill Leo in about the enemies' activities. 

"The Rank seem to be grabbing piles of fresh fish out of the crates," Raphael whispered.

"Is Dragon Lord there?" Leonardo questioned with a whisper. Raphael shook his head.

"No. I over heard Wick say something about developing a medicine. I think he said that Dragon Lord is sick," Raphael answered.

"That could explain their inactivity. Dragon Lord might simply have an illness preventing him from doing anything bothersome," Donatello suggested.

"Well lets make sure that he stays sick," Leonardo whispered, staring at the Rank through the murky window. Ready for action, all five turtles made a dramatic entrance by smashing through the glass. All of the ugly dragons stopped what they were doing, and within seconds, prepared to fight.

Leonardo quickly counted fifteen dragons, an unusually low number, but at least it was only three to one turtle. "Fight! Fight! Fight the turtles!" Wick babbled like an idiot in the background. On his command, the dragons advanced. Raphael was the first to knock an enemy down by swiftly kicking one in the head with a roundhouse. 

Donatello and Michelangelo were being pursued by at least half of the evil group. After a quick and understanding glance at each other, Donatello lowered his hands to allow Mike to perform a boosted flip over the line of oncoming dragons. When the group of dragons were in-between Don and Mikey, the two turtles didn't hesitate to turn around and give them the old shell slam. A kai mi ball from Venus quickly dispatched the ones who managed to dodge the carapace sandwich. 

Leonardo lazily kicked a dragon in the chest with his right leg before smoothly switching legs to kick another from behind. His demeanor was calm and collected, almost as if fighting the enemy was too easy for his level of ninjitsu. 

Raphael was surrounded by the remaining three dragons. The enemies pulled out their knives and went for his throat. With not a second to loose, Raphael's head withdrew into the safety of his shell. When he sensed all three knives fly over the newly created empty space, Raphael popped back up again and split kicked two of the dragons while Donatello helped out with the third using his high-tech metal staff. The two kicked dragons were still able to stand up but Raph and Leo knocked them unconscious by banging their heads against the hilt of their weapons. 

Leonardo stared around the room. Fish were everywhere, some crates had been broken… and Wick had disappeared. That was when Leo discovered the back room of the warehouse, and the leader of the Rank and his many, many followers standing in the doorway. Wick had obviously escaped the room they were currently in and warned them. The Rank leader had a snarl on his uncovered face. Not being bothered to fight fairly, the lieutenant and his followers raised their arms in preparation to fire their wrist laser guns which, from previous experiences, the turtles knew hurt like hell. 

With now five against fifty, Leonardo knew when to back out. He signaled the others to retreat before escaping through the broken window from whence they came. The dragons were right on their tail. Raphael leapt on his Hog and was out of there in no time. Michelangelo jumped behind the wheel while Don dived for the passenger seat of the new vehicle. Venus and Leo just stared at them. 

"Ahem. Two-door," Leonardo said bluntly to Donny. Donatello groaned and rolled his eyes, and once again made the journey to the back seat… nearly. By this time the dragons had caught up to them, but maintained their distance, resorting to shooting instead of hand-to-hand combat. Donatello gritted his teeth as Leonardo groped desperately at his butt in order for his thick shell to become unstuck. Michelangelo also had trouble scrambling into the back seat, yet unlike Donny, only needed one push from Venus to get through. With Mike on the other side to help, Donatello finally popped into his rear seat. 

The lasers shot through the windshield, causing the turtles to duck their heads as the glass caved in. "Drive. Drive!" Leonardo called out from the front passenger seat. When the blasts stopped for a second, Leo realised that the driver was none other than Venus. Leo rolled his eyes and cradled his head in his hands in despair. With the dragons outside firing their weapons, it would be impossible to switch places. There was no other option.

To help the panicking female out, Leo leaned over and crossed the wires to start the engine. Venus frantically pulled at the steering wheel lock which belonged to the original owner of the vehicle. The other turtles in the car looked at it in horror. They didn't have the keys.

"Just drive!" Leo fretted. Venus slammed her foot down on the accelerator, causing everyone to fall back into their seats. The four-wheel drive speedily headed straight down the street, quickly escaping the dragons and the laser blasts. 

Don and Mike slapped a high-five while Leo continued to gaze at the road. Up ahead was a t-intersection. They needed to turn or else. Venus realised she was going too fast for the corner so she slowed down by pulling on the hand brake, whacking Leo, Don and Mike's foreheads on the headrest or dashboard in front of them. At least she developed a decent speed. 

Venus turned the corner way too early and, with the aid of the steering wheel lock, scraped the car's right hubcaps along the gutter. Venus tried to move to the center of the lane, but the metallic lock forbid her from doing so. The tires continued to scrape along the edge of the road creating an ear-splitting noise. "I think you're scraping the car!" Donatello yelled, purposely stating the obvious.

"I can't do anything!" Venus cried, trying to budge the locked steering wheel to the left. Locals were woken up and pet dogs began to howl as the four-wheel drive continued it's ear-deafening journey down Manhattan's streets. 

Venus didn't know what to do. She had to keep driving to get away from the dragons. Not knowing what else to do, Venus sped up. The car bobbled and veered along the road at an extreme speed; sparks flying when the metal hubcaps made contact to the gutter. The boys held onto anything they could with their life. The ride ended when the vehicle collided into the back of a parked car. 

"Sorry," Venus said sheepishly. The boys groaned from their splitting headaches. Tired and not feeling well enough to simply walk, the four turtles quietly remained in the car. A few minutes later the driver and passenger-side airbags were disengaged. 

"That's useful," Mike commented tiredly as Leo and Venus struggled against the big airy pillows. After getting the airbags under control, the turtles remained still; they couldn't be bothered as of yet to escape into the sewers and walk the rest of the way home. Reflecting on what had happened, Leo turned to face Don, fighting with the inflated airbag in the process. There was awkwardness in the atmosphere. Donatello noticed the seriousness in Leo's face.

"About what happened before, you know, with the whole… groping thing? I'd just like you to know that it was purely innocent and that I wasn't hitting on you in anyway," Leonardo admitted seriously.

"Oh shut up!"


	4. Dude, Where's My Car?

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Elly.

Ramica- No one in the lair really knows why the name keeps changing. But ever since the break up, Mike has been a bit… deranged. He really didn't cope with it too well and doesn't want to let go. The turtle, to Mike, is like a little tool to hopefully get Venus back, but at the same time his scattered mind is trying to accept, reject and cope all at the one time. Anyway, to answer your question… Mike's just lost the plot!

Chapter 4: Dude, Where's My Car?

The four-wheel drive was no longer road worthy, and, with the cops researching the theft and accident, the turtles decided to abandon the vehicle. It took them an hour to trek through the labyrinth of sewer tunnels and rivers. When they finally arrived home, Splinter and Raphael were nervously waiting for them.

"Where's the car?" Raphael asked hurriedly as soon they entered the lair.

"Nice to see you too Raph. We're fine. Thanks for asking," Donatello commented harshly before scurrying into his room.

"Venus crashed the car. We had to abandon it because the cops were called soon after the accident," Leonardo sadly reported. Splinter nodded to the news while Raphael sighed.

"Guess I'll have to steal another one," Raphael said, heading towards the exit.

"No! No, that won't be necessary," Leonardo called out while Mike blocked Raph's past.

"It'll just be easier if I fix the Hummer, since it already has all the things we need or want in a vehicle… like space and leg room," Donatello explained from the confines of his train carriage.

"Well, it is good to see you all back. From what I heard from Raphael about Dragon Lord, I suspect that Donatello will have quite some time to fix the Hummer, though it will do you all some good if you traveled like true ninjas. I hope that you will retire for the night shortly," the old rat said with slight exhaustion. The turtles watched as the elderly ninja master slowly made his way to his private bedroom. 

Raphael looked at the rest of his family and crinkled his nose in disgust. "What stinks?" He asked. Before the others could answer, Raph's eyes traveled down to the brown liquid stained knee guards and ankle bandages. "What did ya do? Walk through shit?" He asked bluntly. 

Leonardo, Venus and Michelangelo simply frowned and stared at him, not willing to admit to that question. A small smirk appeared on Raphael's face. "It'll be a few days until Don gets the Hummer fixed. So like before, your Hog's looking like a great from of transport for our dirty bodies," Leonardo quickly informed him before Raph could poke any more fun at them. The smirk disappeared immediately. 

"You know what… I think there's a… um… frog, yes a frog in the garage! Don't want it to start a plague now, do we?" Raphael feebly excused himself as he bolted for the garage in order to hide his Hog. 

"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard," Leonardo murmured to himself as he headed towards the shower. Mike searched the room for the pizza box he left the baby turtle in, only to find her caught amongst the rubbish in the trash can. 

"I think it's time for you to go to beddy-byes," Michelangelo cooed, hoping to impress Venus with his parenting skills. He then went in search of a place to put the turtle for the night. He entered the bathroom and was yelled at by Leo for not knocking. He shyly meandered around the lair as Venus' curious gaze remained on him. Mike eventually gave up and sat down outside the bathroom door, waiting for Leo to get out. 

Raphael returned from the garage and went straight to his room, not talking to anyone. A minute later, Donatello emerged from his train carriage with an armload of work tools, obviously to help repair the Hummer. He murmured something under his breath when he past Venus, as he walked to the garage's ladder. The female turtle couldn't help but feel guilty and ashamed. 

Venus decided to follow Donatello into the garage. She found the fretting purple wearing turtle ripping off the wrinkled and useless bonnet with his tools. He noticed her standing in the shadows, but chose to ignore her and continue on with his work. "I am really sorry," she finally said. Donatello still didn't say a word. "How long will it take to fix?" she asked after a few seconds. Donatello sighed.

"Depends how lucky I get. If I can find all of the damaged parts in good condition on discarded vehicles at the dump, then it shouldn't take long. Though it will probably end up that we'll have to raid other cars, repair stores, impound facilities or manufacturing places to finish the job," Donatello grunted in response as he checked the engine. Venus nodded quietly in understanding. 

"Anything I can do to help?" Venus asked timidly. Donatello's eyes locked onto Venus' for a split second before they returned to what his hands were working on. 

"No," he replied quietly.

"Are you sure?" Venus tried.

"Yes, I'm sure," Donatello responded with an annoyed tone. In his frustration, Don accidentally dropped a heavy metal wrench onto his foot. Venus watched with apprehension as he howled and hopped in pain.

"I'm only trying to help," Venus said softly as Donatello rubbed his throbbing toes.

"Yeah well, you're not helping," Donatello replied through gritted teeth. "You'd only slow me down anyway. So why don't you just leave me to do my electronic stuff, and do something else like meditation," Donatello argued. 

"Fine!" Venus said stubbornly. Not wanting to bother Donatello any further, she went back into the main living room area. A few minutes later, she went to bed; tired with everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, such as crashing two cars. 

*****

Venus' sleep was restless and disjointed. Her mind disallowed her to dream and instead focused on the feelings of guilt and stupidity that had grown during the day's activities. She couldn't get her brain to relax. Venus sighed and opened her eyes, knowing that it was futile trying to get to sleep. The lair was still dark and cold. Venus sat up to read the alarm clock on her table. The time was half-past four. She groggily stood up, hoping that if she took a break then maybe she could get some sleep later. Venus stepped out of her room and headed for the kitchen to get a glass of water. 

On the way back, Venus noticed that Donatello's train carriage light was on. Curious as to why he was still awake, Venus walked over to his room. She found the turtle fidgeting around with a few gadgets. His desk lamp was on for better light and magnifying glasses were worn on his head for enhanced vision, making him look like some kind of night owl. Don was so preoccupied with his work, that he didn't even notice Venus enter the room. 

"What are you doing still up?" Venus tiredly asked, voice filled with worry. Donatello jumped in surprise, dropping the gadget onto the floor. He picked it back up again and continued his work.

"I'm trying to make a light saber," Donatello murmured while he fiddled.

"Why?" Venus said while yawning.

"Because Raphael will continue to threaten me and my computer if I don't make him one. He wants it just like Yoda's," Donatello informed her, still not taking his eyes off his growing invention. "I wish I never took him to see that movie. He wanted me to explain to him all of the 'hard' parts. Of course, I had to go, because apparently Mike makes chewing noises as he has a habit of buying the overpriced junk at the Candy Bar, while Leo… Well why would Raph take Leo?" Donatello babbled on.

Venus looked at him and then at the object he was making. "I think that is going to be quite impossible to make. You can't get a constant supply of chi energy to burn at a high temperature in a controlled amount of space," Venus explained. Donatello opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out. He gave a slight nod and placed what he had made so far onto the table surface. Don pulled off his magnifying goggles and rubbed his tired eyes.

Venus gazed around his room. It was rather clean considering Donatello's rather busy lifestyle. Her eyes came to rest on the baby turtle swimming in a glass tank complete with plants, logs and heat rocks. "What's Nelly doing in here?" Venus asked as she approached the tank.

"According to Mike, her name's now Elly," Donatello said casually. Venus sighed with exhaustion.

"I don't think I can keep up with all these names," Venus groaned.

"Ironically enough, Mike can't either," Donatello commented. "I found her in the bath tub swimming in deep tap water with no source of heat and had no place to rest. Luckily I just so happened to keep that fish tank Mike used when he had the smart idea of having a poisonous snake for a pet. I just had to uh… 'borrow' some reptile supplies from the pet shop down the road," Donatello explained. Venus wisely decided not to argue with him about the stealing. 

"So… how's the Hummer coming along?" she asked cautiously. Don gave her a dark look. 

"It's okay. I just need to search the dump for some of the more major parts like the bonnet, but for some reason I can't find Raph's motorcycle," Donatello said, after realising that he was too tired to be angry with her.

There was an awkward silence between the two. Both turtles watched as Don's desk lamp bulb flickered and died. Donatello groaned and fumbled through his desk draw in search of a replacement. "Anyway, I have work to do. Mike wants me to fix his portable gaming device so he doesn't have to whack it all the time," Don murmured, then swore under his breath when he couldn't find a spare bulb.

Venus backed out of the room and headed towards her train carriage. A grunting noise from within Leo's room was heard. Venus chose to investigate it and found Leo on the floor of his room doing pushups; obviously the first exercise of his obsessive morning workout. After completing a set, Leo noticed the female turtle standing in the doorway. "Hey Venus. Why are you up so early?" Leonardo asked, slowly getting up off the floor.

"Couldn't sleep," she said simply. "Donatello hasn't even gone to bed yet," Venus added.

"Yeah he usually does that," Leo said, being dismissive. 

"But he never seems tired to me," Venus pondered.

"That's because he's a caffeine addict," Leonardo pointed out. "You shouldn't worry about him. He's been doing this for years. It may not seem like it at times, but he really does enjoy doing his work. Frankly, I don't know where we'd be without him and his inventions. We wouldn't have a security system, hot water, a kitchen… or really nice spray paint designs on the vehicles," Leonardo explained while gathering his gear, ready to head over to the dojo.

"I'M NOT GAY!" A voice yelled from down the hall. 

"Who was that?" Venus wondered where the voice had come from. Leo just shrugged before continuing.

"Yes, he especially enjoys his spray painting," Leonardo said on purposely loud so that Don could hear it from his room. A couple of swear words were heard down the hall. 

"He must really care about his family then," Venus suggested.

"Yeah…" Leo agreed, ending the conversation. He looked Venus up and down, remembering something that Raphael had told him earlier. "Do you want to spar?"

*****

Venus and Leonardo panted as the forty minute long sparring match finally came to an end; Venus being the victor. They shook hands, thanking each other for a good match, before dropping down to rest on the cold floor. Leonardo looked over at Venus and smiled. "You're a very good fighter," he complimented.

"Thank you," Venus said, slightly blushing. She was glad that her cheeks were already red from the workout.

"So, when you were living in China, how did you spar?" Leonardo questioned, slowly getting his breath back.

"I practiced with my master Chung I. Though when he got older, things became difficult, and I had to spar with him using only chi energy, as he was too frail to be Raph-housing with me physically," she explained, gaining a weird look from Leo.

"I think you meant roughhousing," he corrected gently. Venus gave him a sheepish grin. "But you have to admit, doing all those years of practice using only chi energy made you into the great fighter you are today. It's what really gives you the advantage," Leonardo analysed. 

"I guess so," Venus said softly. 

"Do you enjoy being a Shinobi?" Leonardo asked, after noticing her thoughtfulness.

"Sometimes I do. The skills are really helpful most of the time. It's just…" she trailed off.

"What?" Leonardo wanted her to continue.

"Well… sometimes I just feel… isolated," Venus admitted.

"Everybody feels that way sometimes. Even more so when you're a mutant. I don't think you're isolated. You're unique, but not isolated," Leonardo said softly. Venus had a small smile on her face. 

"Maybe," she whispered. There was a short silence. "Leo. I know how much the Hummer meant to you-"

"Yeah," Leo agreed, trying not to look too upset.

"-But I am really sorry," Venus apologised.

"I know you are. You shouldn't worry about it too much," Leonardo said almost casually. "Wanna have an early breakfast?" Leonardo suggested, pointing towards the kitchen. Venus smiled and nodded. They walked together back into the main living room. Donatello was already there, chugging down a large cup of hot black coffee as though it was his last drop of water before crossing a dessert. "See what I mean?" Leonardo winked, referring to what was said about Don earlier. Venus grinned at his comment. They both watched as Don returned to his room wide-eyed, like a zombie looking for brains.

Breakfast ended up being cereal, as Leo couldn't cook or make anything else. The two turtles continued to talk; Venus' heart fluttered every time Leo said anything to her. As he talked, Venus started to admire the small things about him; his smile, the gentle yet strong hands, those deep brown eyes… the really sexy muscles. Venus stopped her train of thought right there, realising that she had been fantasizing about him, and not really listening to what he was saying. She tried to focus on the actual conversation again, only to have her mind wander to his cute butt. _'Stop it, Venus!'_ her thoughts cursed to herself. Two seconds later, her mind wandered off yet again. _'Why am I thinking about this?'_ she thought, snapping back to reality yet again. Leonardo smiled to her as he was speaking, and Venus couldn't help but smile back. _'I think I have a crush,'_ she wondered, trying to figure out her new feelings. Leo looked into her eyes and touched her hand. _'I think I'm falling for him.'_

__

To be continued…


	5. Donnie Darko

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Ally. I don't own McDonalds either. I'd also like to thank babynames.com… for obvious reasons!

Chapter 5: Donnie Darko.

Venus tossed and turned in her sleep. It had been a long day. She spent most of her hours thinking about Leo; trying to comprehend her feelings about him. Venus couldn't get him out of her mind, as though she had to plan out everything to impress the male turtle. But why did his opinions matter all of a sudden? She didn't know what she was experiencing, and she continued to argue with herself for the rest of the evening. Eventually she would just admit that she did like him, if not love him, but then she would rethink her decision. Venus sighed. She was so confused. Should she just give in to these new feelings? Or should she reject them? 

Venus slowly opened her eyes, knowing perfectly well that she wasn't getting any sleep. Just like the previous night, the female turtle tiredly headed for the kitchen to get a glass of water. The air was cold and the lair was dark, with the exception of Donatello's bedroom light. Venus shook her head at the thought of Don stupidly staying up for two nights in a row, but instead of going back to bed, she curiously wanted to pay him a visit.

She found the turtle sitting in front of his computer, scrolling down pages and pages of what looked like to be important information. Don quickly glanced in recognition towards Venus, before returning his highly focused gaze to the gently illuminated screen. 

"What are you looking at?" Venus asked after a few minutes of having no interaction. She walked towards the screen, only to have Don swiftly change it to another window. She placed her hands on her hips and warily gazed at Donatello. "I know the window trick," she said bluntly. Don sighed and reluctantly pulled up the Internet browser that he was originally looking at, knowing that she wasn't going to like what she was about to see. Venus stared at the screen for a little while before giving Donny an accusing look.

"You're looking up dragons!?" Venus said in surprise, wanting an explanation.

"I wanted to learn more about them, like where they came from, how long they live, what they eat…" Donatello said, remaining calm.

"But I know all about that. Why didn't you just ask me? I have lots of scrolls in my room about them," Venus stated, her voice showing that she was quite upset.

"But I can't read them," Don pointed out.

"I could have gone through them for you. You should have came to me first instead of staying up till some ungodly hour!" Venus argued, getting offended that Don didn't want her help.

"Look. I'm just doing some further research just to back up some of the things that your ancient parchments have told you," Donatello stated, getting annoyed.

"How can you do further research if you haven't gone through the scrolls yet!?" Venus continued to argue.

"Venus, why do you care about it so much? So what if I want to do my own research!?" Donatello said loudly. Venus was quiet for moment.

"Dragon Lord murdered Chung I. I just want to give him what he deserves, just like how you wanted revenge on the Shredder. It's important to me," Venus reasoned with a softer tone, even though there was more to it than that.

"I know that. It's just that I want something more modern. Something more reliable," Donatello continued.

"More reliable? Don, the page you're reading now could have been written by a Harry Potter fan, for all you know!" Venus said. Donatello stopped what he was doing. She had a point. There was a rather lengthy silence between the two turtles. All of a sudden, Don became annoyed.

"Just leave me alone, okay!" he said sharply. Offended, Venus left the room and went back to bed. Donatello sighed to himself, deeply thinking about the conversation that was just held.

*****

Venus rinsed her breakfast bowl and placed it with the other dirty dishes beside the kitchen sink. It was Raphael's turn to wash up this morning. Instead of having breakfast privately with Leonardo, like she did the other day, Venus ate with the whole family, as she was too tired to get up any earlier, thanks to the conversation with Donatello last night. The female turtle watched as everyone went on with their separate daily tasks; Leonardo headed for the dojo, Raph went back to his room, Don tried to get more parts for the Hummer while Master Splinter meditated in the living room. Venus' eyes continued to scan around the lair, only to lock onto Mikey's.

"Hey, I was wondering… would you like to go out for lunch? I just haven't the chance to talk to you much lately," Mikey asked sweetly with a slightly sympathetic tone. Venus couldn't resist his expressively sad appearance and reluctantly agreed. Mike's face brightened immediately. "Great! We'll leave at noon! I'll bring Ally!" Michelangelo said, before skipping away. Venus was confused for a second, until she finally figured out who Ally was.

*****

Lunch ended up being an under ten-dollar meal deal from McDonalds, much to Venus' disappointment. The two turtles sat at the end of a large sewerage pipe that looked onto the water surrounding the harbour. It was quite a beautiful and secluded spot, although it was partly on the smelly side.

Venus watched as Mike operated on his burger, skillfully taking out his gherkins. "I thought you liked them?" Venus questioned after swallowing a mouthful.

"That was until Don told me that they make you fart," Mike said with a smile. Venus stopped chewing on her burger and immediately threw out the green gherkins. The two ate in an awkward silence for a few minutes whilst Ally splashed behind them. 

"So…" Mike started off. "Is there a McDonalds in China?" Mike asked, making small talk. Venus stared at him for a while, knowing where the conversation would lead.

"I don't want to talk about China. I want to learn more about you guys," Venus said, scrunching up her papery rubbish. 

"Like what?" Mike questioned.

"Well… what was it like growing up here in New York?" Venus asked, looking into his eyes.

"It was alright," Mike began. "Splinter really helped us get through most things. Leo and Raph fought a lot of the time-"

"No. I mean, what was it like for you?" Venus interrupted. Michelangelo was unusually quiet for a while.

"Truthfully, I was sad for most of the time. Sad and scared. Splinter's training helped me overcome most of my fears, like the pitch-blackness and the really creepy echoing sewer sounds, but I took a lot longer than everyone else did. Raph and Leo teased me a lot… especially Raph, but I knew that they still cared about me. Things were okay, until we learnt about the Foot. That's when everything became serious. I couldn't cope with it at first, but Don helped me to keep looking on the bright side of things… best advice anyone's ever given me! Then one day, Raph became jealous of Leo, and Leo started to degrade Raph. Ever since then they've been fighting over whose better. Don and I became closer, mainly because we shared the same amount of worry. We worked as a team and we helped to calm down Raph and Leo after most fights; I was always stuck with Raph. He's not a bad guy; he just wants to be understood. But one thing's for sure; I wouldn't be the person I am today without Don," Mike admitted with honesty. Venus remained thoughtful for a while.

"So are you still good friends with Don?" Venus questioned.

"Yeah, a bit. But we're not as close now compared to when we were little. He became interested in electronics when he was eight, and was a smarty-pants genius by ten. I just don't have that much in common with him than I used to. I think I'm closer to Raph now, mainly because he's always got something fun or evil in mind… and I can always point the blame on him! With Leo… Actually, come to think of it, I don't talk to Leo that often," Mike said thoughtfully.

"I noticed that," Venus commented.

"Yeah. Leo usually talks to Don and Splinter… He talks to Raph a lot as well… if you can call that 'talking'!" Mike said with a smile. "But since you've arrived, things have been… different."

"How so?" Venus asked with curiosity written all over her face.

"Well, for starters, I don't have to keep seeking Don out for friendship, because I have you," Mike said softly. He placed his hand on hers, making Venus realise the context in the last part of that sentence. 

"Mike, we've been through this," Venus said with a serious yet gentle tone. "We're not meant for each other. Don't get me wrong, I love talking to you and I think that you're a great friend… It's just that… I don't want it to be anything more. I don't want to wreck what we already have between us," Venus said. Michelangelo nodded, slowly understanding what she was trying to say.

"So what are you looking for in a boyfriend… just out of curiosity," Mike asked, slowly becoming his old self again. Venus looked away from him, pondering over his question.

"I don't know yet," she finally said.

"…Do you have anyone in mind at the moment?" Michelangelo asked with a big cheeky grin. Venus blushed.

"No," she lied.

"It's Leo, isn't it?" Mike guessed. A big grin was on his face. Venus tried to find an answer, but her mind found something else to say.

"Where's Ally?" Venus questioned as her eyes scanned hurriedly around the sewer pipe.

"Huh?" Mike exclaimed before quickly joining the search. They both turned their heads in time to see a tiny shell submerging in the nearby river. Venus covered her mouth with her hand in shock while Mike dived in after the baby turtle.

*****

Venus and Mike both returned to the lair sopping wet, along with Ally the baby turtle. As soon as they saw her, Leo and Raph rushed towards the female turtle, although Leonardo was somehow the only one who made it to Venus, as Raphael seemingly fell over an 'invisible' crack. "Hey," Leo greeted, before turning around to watch Raph angrily scramble off of the floor.

"Hey Leo." Venus couldn't help but smile. Mike gave Leo a wink before departing from the two lovebirds. "So what have you been up to?" Venus questioned lightly.

"Nothing much. I was just about to do some more training though. I was wondering-"

"I'd love to join in," Venus interrupted. She blushed slightly in embarrassment from being too excited. Leo gave a small laugh.

Raphael watched as Leo and Venus headed to the dojo hand in hand. He growled to himself, but stopped when he realised that he had to be more aggressive. "Ah, Venus! Can I talk to you for a sec?" Raphael blurted out before the two turtles disappeared behind the doors of the training area. Venus shrugged and nodded while Leo gave him a dark look.

"What is it?" Venus said casually.

"I was wondering if you'd like to have a game of laser tag tonight. If you wanna go, we should leave now as it's dark and all," Raphael said, becoming nervous by the end of the invitation. Venus gave him a thoughtful look. She loved playing laser tag; but then again she wanted to spend more time with Leo.

"Yeah, I'd come," she accepted, figuring that Raphael's invitations were rarer than the opportunities that she could be with Leo. "Sorry Leo. Maybe later," Venus said with slight sadness. Leo nodded simply and continued to cast dark looks towards Raph. He realised that things had become a lot more competitive.

Raphael gave Venus' body a quick look over. "You should dry yourself off first," Raph pointed out. Venus looked down at her body and noticed that she was still wet from chasing a tiny turtle around the water's of New York City.

"Oh! I can't believe I forgot!" She clutched her shivering forearms and rushed to her bedroom. Raphael raised an eye-ridge when Venus emerged seconds later and ran towards the bathroom instead. "The towels are in the rest room!" she murmured to herself. "I'll be ready in a minute!" she called out excitedly to Raph before she disappeared into the bathroom.

Raphael chuckled and shook his head. He then found Leo's continuous dark look. "What?!" he asked innocently.

__

To be continued…


	6. Fight Club

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Jelly. Thanks for the unusual name DW!

Chapter 6: Fight Club.

"Veeenus! Oh Veeenus!" Raphael called out in the dark, allowing his voice to eerily echo against the graffiti covered concrete walls of the laser game building. Venus gripped the handle of her playful weapon tighter. She closed her eyes in hopes of hearing Raphael's whereabouts, but she sensed nothing. Keeping her breathing low, she slowly moved towards another concrete pylon for shelter. Venus kept her gun raised high, waiting for anything.

Venus' laser sensory front pad bleeped and warbled. She'd been hit. Two more strikes and the game would be over. But lucky for her, she only needed to hit Raphael one more time to win. A bulky shadow shifted in the distance. As quick as lightning, Venus repeatedly pressed her trigger. Raphael's front pad flashed with red lights, yet the turtle ignored them and fired at Venus. Raph continued to shoot, causing Venus' electronic vest to flash as well. 

"Not fair! I shot you!" Venus cried out. Even though it was nearly pitch black, she could still see Raph's sneaky smile. 

"Did not!" he argued, casually walking up to her. She watched as his gently illuminated muscles moved; every crevice and scar showing a calm and intriguing side to the male turtle. Her heart thudded with every step he took towards her. He stood in front of her and gazed daringly into her eyes.

"Your vest is flashing. I hit you," Venus said quietly, not letting her eyes break the gaze. She observed as Raphael lowered his attention to his own plastron.

"I guess you did," Raphael said softly, finalising the argument, letting Venus win. The female turtle admired his charismatic smirk, his wildly torn bandanna… and those muscles! _'Okay. Calm down Venus. He's not the best conversationalist unlike Leo,' _Venus thought to herself, though her body wasn't prepared to listen. Her eyes continued to gape at Raph's mouth, wondering what it'd be like. _'Why does he have to be so hot!?'_ Venus' mind pondered as her heart thumped even faster. Her eyes furrowed, trying to ignore her instincts and to concentrate more on a social level. 

"Wanna play another game?" Raphael enticed as Venus was still wrapped up in his mysterious and undiscovered charm. Venus responded with a playful smirk.

"That's alright with me," she replied slyly. Without warning she fired a laser shot into Raphael's electronic vest.

"Hey!" was all that Raphael could manage to say. Venus gave him a sassy smile; the one Raph loved. The male turtle pulled her towards him and pressed the tip of the gun's barrel to her chest, firing it repeatedly. Venus tried to run away but Raphael's hold remained firm. When Venus tried to playfully escape again, Raph lost his balance and fell to the floor, taking the female turtle down with him. Both turtles rolled over each other as they clumsily wrestled on the floor. With a glint of accomplishment in his eye, Raphael pinned Venus to the ground and aimed the plastic weapon to her temple. There was silence between the two as they glared into each other's eyes; Venus daring him to pull the trigger.

A smile swept across her face. "What are you doing?" Venus giggled. "There's not a sensory pad on my head you know!" she laughed, causing Raphael to blush. The male turtle snarled at his stupidity, but soon found the humorous side to his antics.

"I guess I just got carried away," he mused with a subtle smile. Raph felt Venus' body giggle beneath him. There was silence once again when she finally calmed down. Venus' heart thudded more rapidly, yet this time Raphael could feel it. His lips were so close to hers. _'Okay, okay. He's hot. Get over it. Calm down Venus. Don't rush into things!'_ her mind pleaded and argued to herself. Raphael continued to stare into her eyes. _'Things are getting awkward! Get out now!'_ her mind said. _'But how do I?'_ Venus thought as Raphael leaned in even closer. _'Okay. Venus, we need to work together,'_ her mind thought, as though her brain was having it's own conversation. _'Just think of something really unsexy, then make up some excuse. Just leave before you get in too deep! Don't forget about Leo!'_ her mind lectured. 

Agreeing with herself, Venus relaxed and thought about Splinter in a swimsuit. "We should go," Venus said suddenly. She recognised disappointment on Raphael's face. 

"We don't have to leave," Raph coaxed. 

"I know. I just don't want to miss the chocolate pudding Mike has planned for dessert," she reasoned. A small smile washed across Raph's face, before he rose to a stand and helped Venus up off the floor. Without saying much else, the two turtles returned their borrowed electronic gear and headed towards the lair on Raph's Hog.

*****

"What are you doing!? You're getting clobbered by archers!… Can't you even use a grappling hook properly?!" 

"Leo! I'm trying to concentrate!" A voice sounding like Mike's argued. Raphael and Venus entered the lair, expecting to see a training session, but instead they found Leo, Mike and the baby turtle in front of the Playstation and television. Raphael approached them.

"Whatcha playin'?" Raphael asked. Venus joined him and stared at the screen. A black clothed ninja armed with a long single sword jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Numerous arrows were being fired towards the computorised figure and shouts and voices were heard in conjunction with the repetitive game music.

"Tenchu: Stealth Assassins," Leo informed him, eyes still glued to the screen, ready to scrutinise Mike's playing. The male fictional character, Rikimaru, waltzed into a courtyard filled with archers and bow wielders. Naturally, all of the enemies noticed him.

"Oh crap!" Mike exclaimed.

"See! I told you that you had to stick to the shadows! But you never listen to me! You just think that this is one big game!" Leo lectured.

"It is a game!" Mike called in frustration while at the same time pressing the attack key like a frenzied lunatic. Blood spurted out of Rikimaru when the final and fatal arrow was fired into his body. "No!" Mike yelled at the screen in denial. Venus sighed and sat down on the couch; partly finding this competitive streak found in males quite silly, but also discovering the whole thing amusing. The turtle stared at the screen as a 'mission failed' message and a verse appeared.

"The _ninja_ Rikimaru lies broken, a _shadow_ in life, in death a _failure_," Leonardo read out, emphasising the important parts for Mike. Michelangelo simply pouted and banged the controller into the floor.

"I wanna see if you can do any better Leo!" Mike said, throwing the controller towards him. 

Leonardo started level one again. He used the grappling hook in his inventory and scoured the darkened rooftops. Rikimaru looked to the alleys below and found a swordsman patrolling the grounds. The heroic figure crouched to lessen the chance of being seen. There he waited for the opportune moment. He stood as still as a statue as he observed the enemy below. He waited… waited… waited… … … waited. "Will you just go already?!" Raphael blurted out impatiently. 

"You can't rush ninjitsu Raph. That's something you have to learn," Leonardo replied smartly.

"Leo, the dude's on a five step path! Look, three, four, five. Now he'll turn around… See!" Raphael said, predicting the enemy's movements. 

"But he might do something unexpected. We have to prepare for that," Leonardo informed him. Raphael gave him a blank look.

"…Leo… It's a Playstation game. He ain't going anywhere," Raphael said bluntly. Leo groaned and waited for a few more seconds. Rikimaru jumped down and stealthily attacked the guard in one hit.

"And that's how you're supposed to do it," Leo said with pride. A growling canine appeared behind him.

"Yeah… You're getting your ass whooped by a dog," Raph said, watching as Leo furiously tried to avoid and kill the leaping and biting animal. 

Fifty-five minutes later, Leonardo completed what should have been a fifteen to twenty minute level. "Finally!!" Raph cried in rejoice as the first mission ended. A scoring screen appeared detailing Leo's accomplishments and faults. The rank 'ninja' was given.

"See that guys. I'm a ninja!" Leo said happily. "What's the highest rank, Mike?" the blue wearing turtle asked.

"Grand Master. It goes Thug, Novice, Ninja, Ninja Master, then Grand Master," Mike said, reading from the instruction booklet.

"I want to get Grand Master on a level," Leo announced.

"Oh no your not slowpoke!" Raph said, snatching the controller away from him and starting level two. Leo tried to grab it back, but Raph held it out of his reach. Writing in another language appeared on the screen, causing Raph to impatiently press a button.

"You skipped the briefing! You won't know what your mission is now!" Leonardo explained with a rising volume.

Raphael simply shrugged in response. "I'll figure it out when I'm in there," he said ignorantly and stubbornly. A street setting appeared with many places available to use the grappling hook in order to travel safely. He set the game on pause. "Hey Don!?"

"Yeah…" a voice replied from the purple turtle's train carriage.

"You know what to do," Raphael called out. A couple of printing noises were heard in Don's room. A few moments later, Donatello entered with a sheet of paper. Looking at the newly printed information, Raphael pressed a series of buttons. A cheat screen appeared along with a list of Japanese weaponry names.

"You're cheating!" Leo accused, partly surprised, although he should have known better.

"Hey Leo? What's a hensin?" Raphael asked, scrolling down the cheat list.

"That's a chamelion spell. You should know that," Leo replied.

"Cool. I'll order ten of those," Raph said, clicking on the selected item. The icon appeared in his inventory with the number ten beside it.

"You're cheating!" Leonardo repeated.

"Hey, what's a makibisi?"

"That's caltrops."

"In English Leo…"

"Metal spikes you leave behind so you injure pursuers."

"Hmm… I'll get ten of those as well." The item icon appeared in the inventory list.

"You're cheating!" Leonardo repeated yet again. Raphael returned to playing the game. Rikimaru peered down the street. "Remember to stick to the shadows," Leo advised him. Raph simply rolled his eyes and ran in clear sight down the street. "What are you doing!?"

"Quit nagging me Leo!" Raph barked. Rikimaru continued to run down the street, being chased by about every enemy in the level. A particular enemy caught his eye. "Hey, she's got sais!" Raph exclaimed before heading Rikimaru towards her direction.

"You know, the concept of this game is to stealthily attack your enemies if there is no other way, not to search them out and pick which ones you want to personally fight!" Leo lectured. Venus sighed and removed her gaze from the ludicrous scene in front of her. Her eyes came to rest on the baby turtle lying next to Mike.

"How's Ally doing?" Venus asked out of boredom.

"Ally? Oh, you must mean Jelly! She's fine. I was just teaching her how to play the Playstation… that was before Leo decided to rule the roost," Mike said cheerfully.

"He's naming her after food groups now," Raph murmured, as his eyes remained glued to the television screen.

Venus sighed and moved herself so that she could sit beside Michelangelo. "Mikey, we went through this earlier today at lunch. You and I… you don't have to keep a baby turtle anymore," Venus said to him softly, though she doubted the other two would be listening in, gathered by how enwrapped they were with the ninja game. 

"I know… But I thought it could be like divorced parenting, where we could develop a schedule for visiting rights. It'll be fun," Mike said with his eerie happiness. Venus rolled her eyes before observing Jelly. The little turtle was a pale green as though she was dehydrated. She looked weak and her rough skin was peeling. Jelly wobbled on her feet, as though she was lost and starving.

"Mike… Can I borrow Jelly?" Venus asked.

"Yeah sure. But you only have two hours!" Mike replied. Venus picked the turtle up and carried the reptile straight over to Don's room. Donatello looked at Venus from his computer desk. Taking that as a sign to enter, Venus stepped into the generally forbidden territory and walked over to Don. 

"Don. Jelly doesn't look too healthy. Can you do me a favour and take care of her. I don't exactly trust anyone else with keeping Jelly," Venus explained to him. He responded with a nod, though the choice of name made him confused for a few seconds. Donatello took Jelly out of her hands and placed the baby turtle in his spare fish tank. The two watched as Jelly basked near the heat lamp.

"Are they still playing Tenchu out there?" Don asked, making small talk.

"Yeah. Doesn't look like they are going to stop any time soon," Venus informed him. She smiled when Don rolled his eyes.

"Just be happy that they don't own Tenchu 2," he said.

"Why?"

"Because on Tenchu 2 you can design your own levels," Don explained. This time Venus was the one to roll her eyes. 

"Thanks for taking care of Jelly for me."

"Any time," Don replied before returning to his computer chair. Venus sighed and walked back over to the couch. Raphael had just finished the level by basically just running down the street. His total score and rank appeared on the screen: thug.

"See that! You got the lowest rank possible!" Leonardo screeched while pointing to the screen.

"At least I did it in under three minutes! I just went in, got out, completed my mission," Raph said with a smirk. 

"Boys," Venus murmured under her breath whilst shaking her head.

__

To be continued…


	7. Insomnia

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Waverly.

Chapter 7: Insomnia. 

Raphael growled and turned off the Playstation, completely fed up with Leo's constant nagging. Mike sighed and dragged himself off the floor before skipping towards the kitchen in order to prepare his luxurious chocolate pudding for dessert. Still angry and flustered, Raphael stalked to his room and slammed the door; too frustrated to realise that he'd left Venus and Leo alone on the couch.

Venus absentmindedly traced her finger against the fabric of the sofa as Leonardo quietly watched her every move. Their attention was diverted when Mike dropped his wooden mixing spoon on the kitchen floor. "Do you want to have a quick training or sparring session? I think he's going to take a while with dessert," Leonardo invited. Venus smiled and graciously held his hand as he led her to the dojo nearby.

The two turtles decided to do three-step sparring, going over some of the harder partner combinations involving ax kicks and suitable retaliations to a knife attack. After practicing the selected movements proficiently, Leo decided to take a rest after noticing how worn out Venus looked from playing laser tag with Raph earlier. He watched as Venus sat in a lotus position in hopes of clearing out her busy and troubled mind. She breathed slowly for about a minute before her eyes fluttered open. Leonardo was waiting patiently. Venus gave him a small smile, thinking of something to ask him to break the ever-growing tension.

"Leo. Who's your idol?" Venus asked out of curiosity.

"Idol?" Leo repeated with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah. If you could meet anyone dead or alive, you would you choose?" Venus clarified the question. Leonardo was thoughtful for a few moments.

"Bruce Lee," he said simply. "I admire his theories and the hardships he had to endure in order to teach, practice and live in America," he justified. Venus gave him a nod. "He stars in one of my favourite movies; The Game of Death. Well… technically it isn't a movie," Leonardo explained further.

"What do you mean?" Venus asked.

"The Game of Death was the last movie Bruce Lee was in, but it's only a couple of minutes. The fight scenes at the end were the only part of the story that was filmed. It's excellent. If I remember my facts correctly, it's the only double nunchuku fight that exists on camera," Leonardo informed her.

"I bet Mike liked that scene," Venus assumed with a smile.

"Yeah, he did," Leonardo agreed, reflecting on the movie.

"So when did Mike decide to use tonfas instead of nunchuks?" Venus asked with curiosity.

"He changed when he got sick of whacking himself in the head!" Leonardo said with a wide grin.

"Serious?!" Venus giggled.

"Actually, they were giving him sore underarms from stopping them from spinning all the time. Also, Mike was punished by Splinter one day because he kept mucking around with them, and he was equipped with tonfas for the rest of the lesson. I guess that they slowly grew on him. Personally I never liked the idea of Mike having a spinning weapon," Leo explained further.

"At least he doesn't have a sharp one," Venus humoured. 

"I used to have two katanas," Leo mentioned.

"You did?"

"Yeah. But earlier this year I felt confident enough to just carry one. Makes me lighter. Also, we all used to wear red bandannas, but I'll leave that story to Raph and is individuality." Leo said, reflecting on his childhood years. There was a calm silence between the two reptiles. Leonardo shifted comfortably closer towards Venus; a movement which Venus didn't object to. "So… who's your idol?"

"Chung I."

"Should have guessed," Leo said as a slight grin appeared on his honest and genuine face. "And your favourite movie?" he continued.

"Probably Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I can relate to some of the themes. Though the subtitles are pretty bad," Venus admitted. 

"I didn't really like all of the flying fight scenes. But then I guess it emphasised the myth and legend part of the story… Yet, I really felt sorry for the character Li Mubai, who never found the strength to admit his love," Leo said softly as he noticed how gorgeous and fascinating Venus' dark brown eyes were. Their faces moved closer.

"Just like you," Venus whispered boldly. Leonardo couldn't help but grin at her last comment. Very gently, he pressed his lips against hers, tenderly kissing her luscious mouth. In milliseconds, Venus was returning Leo's kiss, enjoying every moment of his romantic warmth. Still caught up with the event, Leonardo sensitively caressed her face with a hand while Venus did her own exploring and traced a finger down his strong yet gentle biceps and triceps. 

A delicious smell wafted in from the kitchen, slowly breaking the starving yet satisfied turtles apart. Leo spent a moment to admire her eyes, falling more deeply in love with her with each passing second, while Venus playfully fingered his blue bandanna tails. She coyly looked at him, then kissed him again, not wanting to join the others in the kitchen just yet.

They both grinned to each other when they finally broke apart. Together they rose off the floor and gradually moved towards the direction of the kitchen, and the chocolate pudding that awaited them. 

*****

Venus' mind was spinning with the new emotions she was experiencing. Unable to sleep, Venus opened her eyes and smiled to herself when she found Leo's arms still wrapped around her. After dessert, she spent the rest of the night in Leo's room, talking about all sorts of things, slowly learning more about each other. Time seemed to have passed quickly, and before either of them noticed, it was the really early hours of the morning. Too tired at that hour to talk further, Leo simply sheltered Venus in his arms, where they both later simply dozed off.

Venus sighed and slowly slipped out of Leo's gentle hold, not wanting the others to know that she had spent the night in Leo's room for fear of speculation of non existent events. In the dark, she sneaked out of the train carriage and entered the main living area on tiptoe. Not surprisingly Don's bedroom light was on. Her eyelids felt heavy with sleep deprivation, yet something unknown curiously drew her towards the illuminated room. 

Venus observed Donny through the opened doorway, watching him as he twiddled with the recently broken object at his workbench. The male turtle sensed her presence almost immediately, though he didn't shun her away when she stepped into his room. Venus continued to watch him work for a while before asking a question.

"What happened to the Playstation?" she questioned softly.

"Mike wanted to know what would happen if he pressed the reset and the power button at the same time. Totally wrecked it. He short-circuited the TV as well, but I've already fixed that," Don explained while grabbing a nearby screwdriver.

"Oh," Venus said simply, mainly out of tiredness.

"The Hummer's fixed now as well. It should be okay to drive, but I just have to double check that it's safe," Don said. Venus smiled with relief upon hearing his news. Her exhausted swollen eyes scanned across his room, coming to rest on the fish tank. She observed the baby inhabitant swimming around the water in a carefree manner. The turtle's skin seemed to be a healthier richer green, and also looked to have more of an abundance of energy.

"Jelly's looking better already Don," Venus complimented.

"Don't thank me. All she needed was some fresh, non-tap water and a heat source. Oh, and her name's now Waverly," Don said modestly. Venus held a confused expression.

"Oookay… How on earth did Shelly progress into Waverly?" Venus sighed with exasperation. 

"Just be thankful that it still ends with 'ly'. At least Mike's memory isn't completely hopeless," Don commented. "So why are you still up?" Don asked, keeping his eyes focused on the grey Playstation instead of her.

"Just couldn't sleep," Venus said simply.

"Hmm… Well that explains why you came from Leo's room instead of your own," Don said with a light hint of sarcasm. 

"It's not what you think," Venus defended almost immediately.

"I never said that," Don replied honestly. "But since you seem so defensive about it, what did happen in there?" Don asked slyly. He stared into her tired eyes. It was three in the morning, yet his mind was still as sharp as ever. Venus sighed, knowing that he was too smart and that she was too tired to simply lie.

"I kissed him, okay," Venus answered with a slight attitude. She awaited a smart aleck comment or a smirk, but none came. 

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Don said with reassurance.

"I just don't really won't anyone to know that we're an…"

"Item?" Don completed. Venus nodded. "Don't worry about that. Who am I going to tell anyway? Splinter's usually asleep or meditating these days, Mike values his life and doesn't step into this room for fear that I might combine sodium and water again, while Raph has only limited conversations with me and thinks that I'm some kind of slave who has got nothing better to do than to print him out pages and pages of Tomb Raider walkthroughs," Don commented, returning to his repairing of the Playstation. Venus couldn't help but give him a supportive smile.

"So what time do you plan to stay up till?" Venus asked.

"When I've finished this, however long it's going to take," Don said, opening and closing the lid of the game console. "You shouldn't stay up though. You have no reason to," Don mumbled.

"I thought you might have wanted some company, someone to talk to. Don't you ever feel lonely when you're cooped up in this room all day?" Venus asked. Donatello simply shrugged. Venus sighed. "Goodnight Don," she finally said. A little smile spread across Don's mouth.

"G'night Venus."

*****

Raphael's fingers tensed over the smooth grey object. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he concentrated with all his might. Playstation game Tenchu character, Rikimaru, was up against the final enemy in the ninjitsu adventure. One hit from the big fat devil would instantly kill Raph's computerised person, or so Raph had read from a Tenchu walkthrough that Don had printed out for him. Leonardo and Michelangelo sat beside him; their attention intently focused on the television screen.

After a short dialogue between the two fictional characters, the battle was underway. Raphael obliterated the obese enemy in less than half a minute, thanks to being equipped with an arsenal of cheated weapons. He watched the final sequence. _"No… Defeated by a mere human?!" _the evil Playstation figure moaned. "Yeah… A human with a gun and one hundred lightning bolts!" Raphael boasted to the TV.

"You so cheated!" Leonardo complained, upset that he wasn't the one to finish the game first.

"This game's impossible to complete without the cheats!" Raph argued.

"No it's not! You just don't have what it takes to be a Grand Master!" Leonardo accused.

"Then prove me wrong Tenchu boy!" Raph yelled.

"Fine!" Leo yelled back, but Raphael kept the D-pad firmly in his grasp, not wanting Leo to beat him at this particular game. Leonardo stared at the almighty grey object in his hand and suddenly lunged towards it. A tug-of-war abruptly began over the Playstation controller. Venus entered the room and calmly watched the childish behaviour. She giggled, causing both Raph and Leo to stop and stare blankly at her. Venus smiled when both of their faces turned bright red with embarrassment.

"Hey Venus," Leo greeted bashfully.

"…Would you like to play laser tag again tonight?" Raphael suddenly invited, quickly getting over the embarrassment. Leonardo glared at him, an action that made Raph grin.

"Um… Sure, I suppose," Venus accepted, not really think twice about her answer. Without letting Leo say anything, Raphael herded Venus towards the garage. He threw her a helmet before hopping onto his Hog. Venus followed suit, wrapping her arms around him for security; her favourite part of the ride.

Raphael revved up the engine and scooted down the dark streets. Venus held Raph tighter as she watched the road swiftly move underneath her feet. The male turtle noticed this change in grip, causing him to sneakily smile to himself. On purposely, he quickly turned a sharp corner, making Venus clutch on to him even tighter. A big evil grin swept across his face as he performed the stunt again, receiving a similar reaction from the female turtle clutching onto his shell. He chuckled to himself; wisely deciding not to do it again as Venus was starting to catch on to his little tricks.

They arrived at the laser game building in a matter of minutes. Using their ninja stealth, they sneaked into the locked up compound before eagerly equipping themselves with the sensory pads and toy guns. "So why exactly did you want to play another game tonight, when we played one just yesterday?" Venus asked as she watched Raph strap on an electronic vest. Raphael simply shrugged in response.

"I dunno," he said casually. Venus frowned slightly after not receiving the answer she was hoping for.

"Do you play laser tag with anyone else?" Venus asked.

"We used to play it all the time when we were young. That was until the laser guns broke. Donatello never got around to fixing them," Raphael commented simply.

"How's the Playstation now? Don spent most of last night fixing it," Venus said, trying to make conversation with the simplistic male turtle.

"It's fine. Mike can be such a dick sometimes," Raphael said, remembering how it broke in the first place. "Do you know if Don's made me that light saber yet?" Raph said with a hint of impatience. 

"Um… I think he's been too busy to make one. First he had to fix the Hummer, then the Playstation, and now he has to take care of Waverly-"

"Waverly?… I didn't think it was possible, but the names are getting worse," Raphael muttered. Venus gave him a smile, before returning to the topic of conversation.

"I don't know how he does it."

"Who?"

"Don!" Venus said, desperately wanting to have a decent conversation with the delinquent turtle. "I mean, I don't know how he can just work all day and night, and yet can still find the time to keep his room tidy and keep a baby turtle healthy," Venus said, thinking about Don's unusual yet amazing habits.

"That's because he's gay," Raphael said bluntly. Venus' thoughts were frozen.

"What?"

"He's gay. Didn't you know?" Raph said with astonishment. Venus shook her head, wanting more information. "Well, that's why he's good at keeping babies and cleaning his room. He's a Jane Austen reading, classical music loving, Internet research obsessive, and contemporary artist turtle!" Raphael generalised, summing it all up for Venus. "Not to mention that he also has the worst excuse for a weapon," Raph added for no real reason. The female turtle was speechless, although it was all making some sort of weird sense in her mind. "So, are you ready?" Raphael questioned, gesturing towards her gun and sensory pads. Still thinking about what he had said earlier, she nodded blankly.

Like she had done so the previous night, Venus hid amongst the many concrete pylons that supported the ceiling. Her ears pricked at the sound of footsteps. She swiftly moved around the pylon in the direction of the sound, but found nothing. She sighed silently, and returned to her original position, only to come face to face with Raphael. Venus stood frozen in her spot, waiting for her sensory pad to light up, but it never did. She studied his serious face and immediately knew that something was different.

Without saying a word, Raphael pulled Venus towards him and hungrily kissed her lips. She was stunned at first and wanted to back away. Her mind was screaming at her, saying that this was wrong and that she was with Leo, but yet her body didn't seem to listen. Finding that she was starting to become more responsive, Raph slid his hands along her body. A part of her mind questioned why he was so bold to even do that, but another part of her brain didn't want the passionate kiss to end. This pash wasn't as romantic as Leo's, but yet it was more sensual.

"Why did you do that?" Venus asked softly when they finally broke apart.

"Because actions speak louder than words," Raphael said with his typical smart aleck tone. Venus stared into his dark and illusive eyes, confused and worried about what had happened. She was definitely attracted to Raph, yet she got on better with Leonardo. Venus had no idea what was going to happen when she got back to the lair. She would have to choose between the two eventually, but what then? Would they fight? She tried to think about the very near future, but when Raphael leaned in to kiss her again, all she could think of was the present.

__

To be continued…


	8. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Turtle.

Chapter 8: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Venus sat nervously in Don's room, watching him as he typed on his computer keyboard. Bored, Venus' eyes scanned across his room, noticing new things each time she did so. Her focus remained on the baby turtle, recently renamed by Mike, Turtle, in the fish tank for a while. _'At least it's name still has an 'l' for the second to last letter'_, Venus thought gloomily before her gaze wandered back over to Don. Donatello sighed with slight frustration and swiveled in his chair to look Venus in the eyes. "Okay. Why are you hiding?" Don finally asked.

"Hiding? I'm not hiding. I don't know what gave you that impression," Venus answered while ducking down when Raph passed by the train carriage window. Donatello simply rolled his eyes.

"You've been in here all day," he commented. Venus looked at him.

"So have you," she answered blankly.

"Yeah, but this is my room!" Don argued. Venus remained silent, suddenly fascinated with the cold floor. "So why are you hiding?" Don asked again with a softer tone.

"Well why are you hiding?" Venus retorted.

"Huh? What are you on about?"

"Just because this is your room, doesn't mean that you're not hiding also. Why do you sit in front of that computer all day?" Venus asked, throwing the focus of the conversation back onto him. Donatello went silent, not really wanting or knowing how to answer her question. The female turtle sighed, realising that she wasn't going to get an answer out of him. "I kissed Raphael," Venus whispered, eyes focused on the ground once again.

"Oh," Don uttered, not knowing how to react. "Well… obviously you're going to have to choose. I mean, don't keep leading either Raph or Leo on. The sooner you tell them the better," Donatello advised calmly.

"But how do I choose? I like them both for different reasons," Venus whispered. Donatello felt sorry for the female turtle when he saw her deeply confused expression.

"I can't answer that. Only you can. Maybe you should talk to someone else, like Splinter?" Donatello said softly.

"Well, I'm talking to you because… I don't really want to talk to anyone else about it," Venus admitted. Don gave her a confused look.

"Why?" Don asked, wondering why she trusted him more than Splinter and Mike.

"… I heard about your… personal preference," Venus said, unsure of how she should word it.

"Oh don't you start! I'm not gay!" Don groaned. "And who told you that?!"

"Raph."

"Well so much for making him a light saber!" Don murmured, wiping the task from the list of things to complete.

"So, you're not gay?" Venus questioned carefully. "Not that it's bad to be gay," she added, maintaining political correctness.

"No!" Don rebutted immediately. "Venus, I'll tell you why I hide in my room all day. I'll tell you why I have my computer on all of the time. They don't understand me. Heaven forbid that I like Pride and Prejudice, that I'm good at spray painting and that I don't like to fight! They just… I'm different. I'm just…" Don said angrily, slowly trailing off at the end. Venus gave him a supportive look, urging him to continue. "I guess I'm just too smart for my own good. Things were okay when I was little, but now… we've just slowly grown apart," Don confessed.

"You can just turn the computer off. Maybe you just need to be more sociable," Venus suggested.

"I can't. My family depends on me to be the brains, and being the brains means that I have to research, and researching means isolation. Ironically, they need me to be a damn hermit crab!" Donatello summarised. Venus was about to say something, but her attention was cut short when there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Don? Is Ve… Hi Venus. I've been looking all over for you. Thought you might have gone to Central Park or something," Leo said, popping his head inside Don's train carriage. Venus simply gave him a smile, slightly disappointed that she couldn't continue her conversation with Donatello. The room fell silent as the three turtle stared at each other. Venus sighed and exited the room, knowing that Leo wouldn't leave without her.

"Would you like to go to the dojo? I have to practice some kata," Leo invited.

"Well actually, Don's fixed the Hummer, and I was wondering if you could give me another driving lesson," Venus asked sweetly. Leo's face turned white.

"Um… Well I don't really feel like driving right now," Leo feebly excused.

"But we always go to the dojo. I just wondered if we could do something different," Venus said with hope in her eyes. Leonardo looked at her awkwardly. Yet again Venus relented and sighed, knowing that Leo was going to be stubborn and remain firm on his decision. 

The two turtles walked into the training area and went through their own katas. It only took a few minutes until Leonardo decided to talk to Venus; the _real _purpose in going to the dojo in the first place. He started talking about the usual things that he spoke about… ninjitsu. Venus listened to every word he said, taking in everything about him. He was a great person to talk to. She smiled when he smiled. She nodded when he nodded. She laughed when he laughed. Suddenly, a strange but untainted thought came into Venus' mind. _'Is there anything I disagree with him about? Or is he really perfect?'_

Venus' eyebrows furrowed when this thought crossed her mind. Was it possible to have too much in common with someone? If she chose him, would she end up being like one of those annoying couples who think and do everything alike? But then again, she would never have an argument with him. Life would be quite peaceful with him. Quite perfect. But did she really want that? Or did she want a challenge? Did she want to be her own person? Did she want to bring something into the relationship, and compliment her partner?

Millions of thoughts whipped across her mind. _'Maybe Don was right. Maybe I should talk to Splinter about this.'_

*****

The elderly rat sat in a lotus position, eyes closed, ready to slip into a meditative state of mind. His ears twitched when he heard someone enter his room. He opened one eye and spotted Venus standing patiently at his doorway. "You may come in," Splinter invited. He observed Venus' hesitant response to his welcoming gesture, but she eventually sat down in front of him. The two stared at each other; Splinter waited for her to speak.

"Master, I… I'm confused. Lately I have been learning more about Leonardo and Raphael. I know that I'm ready to find my soul mate, but I have no idea on who would be right for me. I feel that the longer I take to decide, the more I'm going to hurt one of them, yet I don't want to rush into things. I'd would really appreciate some guidance," Venus said softly, eyes to the floor.

"I have heard from my two sons about your growing sense of closeness," Splinter said.

"You did?" Venus questioned worriedly. The old rat nodded. "So you know what I did to both of them?" Venus asked, feeling guilty and ashamed of herself.

"When I heard their stories separately, I put two and two together," Splinter said with a stern voice, yet his eyes were filled with kindness and compassion. Venus' gaze returned to the cold floor in front of her. Splinter sighed, wanting to help. "Venus, you know that I cannot give you a correct answer. I can only advise you to think carefully about your feelings, and to try and predict what the future may hold for you. Remember the mistakes you learnt from the relationship you had with Michelangelo and make sure that you don't repeat them," Splinter cautioned her.

Venus slowly nodded her head, agreeing with what Splinter had said. "Thank you Splinter. I believe I have a lot of thinking and meditation ahead of me," Venus said softly, slowly standing to exit his room.

*****

Venus watched quietly as Leonardo polished his sword. His strong hands carefully caressed the blade with the help of a cloth. He looked up from what he was doing and smiled peacefully at her. Venus smiled back, although she was quite nervous. She listened intently as Leonardo began to speak about his goals and ambitions.

"Once I feel competent with my fighting skills, I plan on mastering some of the internal arts, like Master Splinter has," Leonardo said, halfway through a conversation.

"I could help you. I own some Shinobi scrolls that have been translated into English. They might be useful to you," Venus suggested.

"Really!? That would be great," Leo said enthusiastically. He gave her a small smile before leaning in to kiss her on the lips. Leonardo gave her a confused look when Venus backed away. 

"Leo, this isn't going to work," Venus started. Leo's heart pumped faster, fearing what she was about to say.

"What do you mean?" he dared to ask.

"Leo, don't get me wrong. I love you, but… I want someone who can challenge my ideals. I have so much in common with you, but I feel that if I stay and advance this relationship, then I won't grow and develop as a person. I just… I don't know. I don't want to rush into things with you. I'll feel more comfortable if I waited, because I know that we get along well. I hope that this all makes sense to you," Venus explained. Her voice was slightly sad and tearful, as though part of her didn't want to say what she had just said.

Venus watched as a saddened expression engulfed Leonardo. Despite his crushed feelings, he nodded slowly, endlessly repeating her words through his mind. Venus sighed with relief and regret, but she needed to say what she was feeling. "Venus? How do you feel about Raphael?" Leo suddenly asked, his voice hinting on his jealousy.

"I don't know how I feel about him," Venus answered quietly. Leonardo remained silent. He wanted more than anything to tell Venus that Raph only wanted her for one thing, but he refrained from doing so, realising that she needed to make her own decisions. 

"I'm sorry," Venus apologised softly. Leo remained still, comprehending and understanding what Venus had told him. The female turtle looked at him sadly, leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you next training session Leo," she whispered softly before she slowly departed the room.

Venus tried to hold back her tears. It had to be done. She walked over to the kitchen and drank a glass of milk, hoping that it's icy coldness would make her feel better, or at least make her feel calmer on the inside. Venus rinsed her glass and made her way over to her bedroom, only to find Raphael crawling around on the floor.

As soon as he noticed her weird looking gaze, Raphael jumped up to his feet. "Hi Venus," he started.

"Hey," Venus replied simply. Raphael observed her solemn expression.

"What's up?"

__

To be continued… 

A/N: Next chapter is probably going to be the final one, depending on how I decide to break it up. I should have said this earlier, but for people who don't know much about Venus and the Next Mutation series, then there's a page dedicated to it on my website (address on author bio). 

Also, I have a webpage called 'What Would You Do?' where it asks a question or scenario every month. This month's one is sort of based on this fanfic. The questions is: Out of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, who would you kill, who would you just remain friends with, who would you sleep with, and who would you marry? If you'd like to answer then either email or add it in the review. You can also add a reason for your choices if you'd like. It's just for fun!  



	9. What Women Want

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, except for the petshop turtles.

Chapter 9: What Women Want.

"What's wrong?" Raphael asked Venus when she didn't answer his first question.

"I just spoke to Leo," Venus said gloomily. Raphael thought about her response for a couple of seconds, assuming that something had gone wrong between the two of them for her to be so down in the dumps. Venus' confused expression returned to her face. "What were you doing on the floor?" she asked with a befuddled tone.

"I can't find my sais," he answered simply.

"Would you like me to help?" Venus suggested. The red-wearing turtle nodded plainly. Raphael watched with interest as Venus slowly bent down and started crawling around on the floor, looking under chairs and sofas as she went. Venus stopped and looked at him sharply when she found the focus of his gaze on her butt. She cleared her throat to get his attention. Slightly embarrassed that he was caught staring, Raphael lowered himself to the lair's floor once again.

After a couple of minutes of crawling around, Raph found one of his sais under the dark depths of the family living room couch. He slowly reached for it with one of his scaly reptilian arms. He yelped in pain and withdrew his hand immediately, only to find a baby turtle attached to his finger. Panicking, Raphael swung his arm around wildly, eventually yanking the little shelled creature off. The baby turtle lay dazed on the ground, but managed to crawl around again in a matter of seconds. Raphael obsessively studied his bitten finger, thankful that the little reptile's beak wasn't sharp enough to penetrate his thick-skinned fingertip. Venus looked at him worriedly from a short distance.

"MIKE!" Raphael yelled, as angry as a pig that just had it's curly tail pulled straight. The fun-loving turtle appeared in the living room, wondering what he had done wrong this time. "She bit me! Get your stupid Turtle away from me!" Raphael squawked, pointing to the tiny reptile.

"Squirtle would have never of done that! You provoked him! Now come to daddy my little hero," Mike cooed to the turtle, picking the reptile up and cuddling it as it squirmed in his grip.

Venus was about to remind him that the turtle was a female, but Raphael covered her mouth before she could do so. "Let him be. I think Mike just wanted to call it Squirtle in the first place," Raph advised her. He removed his hand and Venus kept her lips tightly shut, not commenting on anything. They both watched as Mike twirled Squirtle in the air before returning to his room along with his pet. Raphael reached under the couch yet again and retrieved his single sai. He pouted and gave Venus a thoughtful expression. "The other one has to be somewhere in my room. I've checked just about everywhere else," Raphael pointed out.

Venus followed the male turtle into his room. She sat down on his bed and watched as he jostled around, looking for his matching sai. Venus leaned back and rested her hand on Raph's pillow. She furrowed her eyebrows when she felt the soft object's irregularity. Curious, she tenderly reached underneath the pillow and pulled out the second sai. It didn't take long for Raphael to notice the metal object in Venus' grip. 

"Good girl," Raphael said softly, slightly degrading the female with his choice of words. Raph moved in close to take the other sai from her hand. He placed the pair of weapons on his bedside table, not taking his eyes off Venus' as he did so. Raphael moved in to her even closer, making Venus sit back further onto the bed. He had her right where he wanted. 

Unlike last time with Leonardo, Venus couldn't back away any further when Raphael closed the gap and kissed her with anxious lips. Succumbed by his animalistic personality and gentle touches, Venus laid down on the soft mattress fully, with Raphael following straight after. Venus' body seemed to remain paralysed when Raphael tediously moved his hot kisses down her cheek and along her neck; his hands quickly getting a feel of her. 

"Raph…" Venus managed to say in protest, but was shushed when the male kissed her on the lips again. Her heart quickened when she felt his hands move down her plastron, her body wanting him to continue. Looking deep down into her own soul, Venus knew that she didn't want this, but for some reason her body couldn't say 'no' to his advances. 

"Shh. Just relax," Raphael whispered in-between kisses when he noticed her tense and hesitate in response to his touches. He slowly and carefully positioned himself in preparation. All of a sudden, Venus was repulsed with concerned thoughts and worries.

"Raph stop," Venus said as soon as she could. Yet the male turtle ignored her, and continued to kiss her neck as though he was a vampire ready to make a kill. His right hand started to travel up along her thigh. _'Why is it so hard to resist him?'_ Venus wondered. _'Should I just let him have me? Does it really matter who I lose my virginity to? He's so damn hot… But I don't love him. What will happen afterwards? Will he love me? Will he stay with me? Or will he lose interest? Will I inevitably regret it? …What if I get pregnant? … I don't think he's got protection… Uh-oh!' _

"Raph! I said stop!" Venus said firmly, raising her voice slightly. To Venus' relief, Raphael backed off and sat at the end of the bed. He stared at her with confusion.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"I don't want to do this," Venus answered.

"Why not?" Raphael asked stupidly.

"Because… I just don't," Venus said, not really knowing how to answer his rhetorical question.

"But… You broke up with Leo. I thought that meant that… you wanted me," Raphael said, awkwardness settling in.

"Well… I'm sorry that you interpreted it that way," Venus said softly. Silence entered the room and settled in-between the two turtles as they gazed uncomfortably at each other. "This isn't going to work," Venus stated simply.

"Why not?" Raphael questioned, wanting a reason.

"We don't understand each other. We can't even have a decent conversation. Let's admit it; it's all just physical attraction," Venus explained.

"You're saying it like it's a bad thing," Raphael smirked as his eyes looked her up and down. 

"Well… It's not necessarily bad… I just want something more than that," Venus said, carefully thinking about what she was saying. Raphael looked her straight in the eye. 

"Venus, what exactly do you want!?" Raph said more sharply than he intended. Venus lowered her gaze, gradually thinking up an answer.

"I want a partner who will respect me for who I am, and not treat me as some kind of object. I want a partner who will understand my feelings, yet will disagree on appropriate topics. I want a partner who will keep me interested intellectually. Someone who's always there for me, and I'm always there for him. Someone who I can trust with my problems and can confidently advise me on where I am going wrong. Someone I can relate to. I want a challenge, but not an argument… I want a guy who can trust me. I want to make him grow into a better person, like he will do the same to me. A person who I can make happy; who I know will be by my side by the end of each passing day. That's what I look for in a partner, and that's what I hope for out of a relationship," Venus finished. Raphael was incredibly quiet for the next couple of seconds.

"Well then… that guy's not me. Sorry," Raph said thoughtfully with a barely audible tone. Venus watched with guilt and oppression as Raphael sadly exited his room. Venus sighed slowly, still taking in what had just happened in the last couple of minutes. When she felt she was emotionally ready, she left Raph's room, only to find the red-wearing turtle frozen outside Mike's train carriage door. Curious at what he was gaping at, Venus investigated. What she saw made her gasp in surprise. 

Eight baby turtles crawled around Mike's room. She stared wordlessly as Michelangelo sat in the middle of the floor, trying to feed them all a slice of pizza. Raphael, Venus, and soon Leonardo continued to gape at the sight before them. "Oh, hey guys!" Mike said excitedly when he belatedly noticed their presence.

"What… how … who's all this?!" Leonardo uttered, trying to complete a proper question, yet he still managed to fail. Mike scanned his eyes across the eight baby turtles that were walking circles around him.

"Well… that's Shelly, that's Nelly, that one there is Kelly, the smallest one is Ally, she's Elly, there's Squirtle and Turtle, while the last one is Waverly," Mike introduced, pointing to each tiny turtle in turn. Raph, Venus and Leo were still too stunned to say anything. "Oh! And there's also Jelly. But she's sick and is in Don's room right now," Mike explained. The three mutant turtles continued to stare at him blankly.

"But… Don said that the one in the tank is Waverly… and then Turtle…" Venus said, completely bewildered.

"Well… he must have got confused at some point. Maybe he saw Waverly or Turtle outside the tank with me, and thought that I returned them to his room without him knowing, therefore making him think that Jelly had changed names or something," Mike explained casually. 

"This still doesn't make any sense," Venus muttered under her breath.

"…Wait… Did you think that I only had one turtle!?" Mike finally realised. 

"Well, it's more comprehensible for you to be a nutcase who keeps changing one turtle's name, rather than having NINE STOLEN PETSHOP TURTLES GATHERED IN YOUR ROOM!!!" Raphael yelled, disbelieving Mike's obsession. 

"Why do you have nine baby turtles?" Venus asked cautiously, eyeing the tiny nuisances as they crawled around, trying to see out of their little beady, glassy black pupils. 

"Well it seemed natural to have more than one, especially when female sea turtles can lay and hatch around three hundred eggs," Mike informed her.

"THREE HUNDRED!!!" It was Venus' turn to yell. 

"Heh. Venus, I'm glad you told me to stop when you did," Raphael commented with a smirk, causing Leo to glance at him suspiciously. 

"I guess Don will need a larger tank," Leo murmured as Mike picked up Shelly and hugged her as she squirmed in his grip. Leonardo aimlessly looked around the rest of the den, only to find the television on mute. Curious as an alley cat, Leo walked towards the illuminated screen and froze in disbelief. 

The words 'Grand Master' were displayed as the rank for the final level of the Tenchu Playstation game. "Who… who did this?" Leo questioned in astonishment. Raphael, Venus and Michelangelo looked in the direction of the television screen. Leo looked at their clueless faces, unable to find an answer. "Huh…" Leo shrugged, slightly disappointed that he couldn't complete the almost impossible task first, while also wondering who on earth had done it. Master Splinter sat at the dinner table, grinning widely behind the large newspaper he was reading.

*****

Venus stared in Donny's direction as he typed a HTML code for a new game on his computer. It was the early hours of the morning, but neither of them really cared. A small smile crept across Venus' face for seemingly no apparent reason. Don's typing paused, mainly because he wanted to take a moment to enjoy and appreciate the female turtle's constant caring gaze. 

"If you don't mind me asking, who did you end up choosing? Leo or Raph?" Don asked, eyes still glued to the screen.

"Neither," Venus said simply with a smile on her relatively calm face.

"Oh…" Don uttered in surprise. "…Just wondering, what exactly are you looking for in a guy?" Don asked genuinely.

"Well… I'm looking for a person who can teach me new things, and not someone who I have agreeable conversations with on the same repetitive topics-" Venus started.

"Don't you just hate that. I always find those conversation quite pointless," Don interrupted, still staring at the screen.

"Yeah. But they're always nice to have. You get to learn about the other person a little more. But I prefer a challenge," Venus argued. 

"So what else are you looking for?" Don asked, wanting her to continue.

"A person who I can trust and respect, therefore a person who trusts and respects me," Venus continued. "And since I plan on having children, it wouldn't hurt if the guy was capable of caring for them and other belongings," Venus finished. Donatello silently nodded at her choices.

"Yeah, I think all of that is fairly important," Don agreed.

"So… What do you look for in a girl?" Venus asked casually.

"Um… Someone who can maintain an intellectual conversation and can debate some of my beliefs. A person who can appreciate the things I do for them. They definitely have to understand me and my habits. And they have to be interesting, and they have to know and understand when I want to be alone to work on things," Donatello listed.

"Interested in having any children?" Venus asked.

"Eventually. Like I know how to take care of a child, I'll just have to prepare myself for the nervousness and emotional aspect of parenting," Don explained more clearly. Donatello turned away from his computer in time to catch Venus' smile. "What?" Don asked while a grin started to emerge on his face.

"Nothing," Venus said with the same expression.

"Seriously. What?" Don asked again.

"Well, when you think about it, we are both looking for the same sort of thing in a partner: trust, understanding, intellect…" Venus mentioned few. They both remained quiet for a few seconds. "You're going to need a new tank," Venus pointed out, after spotting nine baby turtles being squished inside an area that was way too small for each of them. 

"Why did Mike have to get multiple turtles?" Don sighed.

"Mike said that he got a few because in the wild they would be born with hundreds of others," Venus answered. Don gave a snort and rolled his eyes. "Don?… How many children would I have? I'm not going to have three hundred am I?" Venus questioned uncertainly.

"I don't know. But you must remember that we're part human, so you might only have one. It's difficult to say because of our mutation," Don answered.

"Scarily enough, I guess there's only one way to find out…" Venus murmured.

"I like to think that life is just one big experiment," Don said, trying to lighten the mood. The two turtles gave each other a small smile before Donatello turned back to his computer screen. Venus watched him for a few more minutes as he typed in a couple of coded lines. His fingers stopped, as though he was unsure of what to do next. Then, with no warning at all, Donatello turned off his computer. Smiling with himself, he swiveled around in his chair to face Venus again.

"Did you finish?" Venus asked, slightly confused.

"No… I just remembered what you said to me the other day. Maybe I should just turn the computer off and become more sociable. Besides… I need to learn a few more things about Dragon Lord. I thought that I could just ask you-," Don explained.

"-Instead of looking up pages that could have been written by a Harry Potter fan," Venus completed his sentence. They both sheepishly smiled. Donatello observed her soft figure and gentle eyes, noticing for the first time how beautiful she looked in aqua. In an instant, Donatello knew why everyone was fighting over her; because she was worth it. 

As she stared at him, a newfound sense of courage rose from the depths of Venus' soul. Bravely, she leaned in toward the purple-wearing turtle, and gave him a gentle kiss upon his soft lips. She noticed him shudder nervously when their mouths first met, but Don quickly caught on and even raised a hand to caress her cheek. 

Donatello bashfully blushed when they finally broke apart, causing Venus to shyly smile in response. "Not too bad… for a gay guy," Venus humoured him. Donatello smiled widely.

"I can't wait to see Leo and Raph's faces!" Don said, wistfully hoping that he would be able to change his brothers' stereotypical views. The male turtle smiled and leaned in to kiss Venus again, this time with more confidence. 

When they broke apart again, Venus took a moment to admire Don's chubby face and insightful eyes. '_Is he really the right guy?'_ her mind wondered. She sighed, knowing that that was a question that could never be answered in an instant. As Don said, life is like one big experiment. She would have to give the relationship a chance in order to find out if he was the right one for her. Yet Venus knew from previous experience that Don had the qualities that would make him a good partner. Sure, they disagreed on a lot of things; but then again they both knew that with time they could possibly look past those obstructions. He wasn't the hottest, the funniest or the most focused and committed; he was just Don, and that's why she liked him. They had so much in common, yet they were both different in many ways, but they were willing to give it a try, and that was the most important thing of all. 

Relieved and happy at the same time, Venus gave Donny a hug and kissed him on the cheek. "See you tomorrow night Don," Venus said with certainty. Donatello gave her a large smile and watched as she stepped into the darkness of the rest of the lair. Donatello sighed with contentment and turned off his bedroom light in order to go to sleep. As he laid his head down on his soft pillow, Donatello realised that for the first time in ages, he actually looked forward to the late nights ahead of him. 

A/N: I'm thinking that I might write an epilogue, so expect another update on this story in a few days time. Also, like the rest of my fanfiction stories, there will be a Fanfic FAQ about The Right Guy on my website. So that should be up whenever I get time to dilly-dally with geocities. Also, I thought you might want to know that with 'What Would You Do?' so far everyone's making Raph a very lucky guy, while just about everyone else is digging a grave for Leo! I'm not the only Leo fan out there am I?… Am I??


	10. Epilogue: Much Ado About Nothing

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except for nine baby petshop turtles.

Epilogue: Much Ado About Nothing.

"It's impossible to get the rank 'grand master'!" Leonardo growled in frustration as Raphael watched, sitting on the couch beside him. Leo's fingers tightly gripped the grey controller as he maneuvered the character, Rikimaru, around the final Tenchu level. Ever since he had found out that a mystery person had scored one hundred percent perfect in the game, Leo had wanted to do the same; yet, naturally he wouldn't tell Raph that he used the level skip cheat to reach the final level. 

"Give it up Leo," Raph groaned.

"I've never given up on anything Raph, and I'm sure as hell not going to give up on this!" Leo answered briskly.

"Just use the cheats," Raphael suggested, becoming weary of the turtle's obsession.

"No! I must fight fairly with honour!" Leo yelled at the television screen. A few moments later, a fire-breathing ninja set Rikimaru alight, slowly burning the Playstation character to his death. "Damn it!" Leo cried out as he took his anger out on the controller. Defeated, the blue-wearing turtle turned off the Playstation, but Raphael had a better idea. 

"What's that?" Leo asked when he saw his brother switch games.

"Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins," Raphael said, announcing the new Playstation game's title. Leonardo inspected the plastic cover and read the words 'live by honour, kill by stealth', immediately creating a sense of interest. "Apparently you can create your own ninja levels in this one. So you can choose where to build walls and place enemies… Sorta like that Sims Unleashed game Donatello uploaded to his computer a few months ago," Raphael informed casually. Leonardo gave him a dark look.

"I've said this to you before, and I'll say this again. Don't you ever mention that damn Sims game in my presence!" Leonardo threatened.

"Yeesh! I didn't know that you were still touchy about it!" Raphael replied while waiting for the sequel of the Tenchu game to upload. At that moment in time, Michelangelo came out of his room, being followed by nine crawling baby turtles. Raph and Leo watched him warily as the orange loving mutated reptile walked over to Don's portable blackboard. Mike turned around and began to lecture the nine blank faced babies that were amazingly lined up neatly into rows of three; obviously being trained to do that after hours and hours of practice. Raphael gave Leo a weird look. "What the heck is he doing!?" Raph questioned, still looking in the direction of Michelangelo and the nine petshop turtles.

"He wants to return them to the wild. So, in order to do that, he believes that he has to train them to swim and take care of themselves," Leonardo informed Raph with an amused tone. Raphael simply rolled his eyes.

"I knew that we shouldn't have let him watch 'Fly Away Home' on TV last Friday night," Raphael groaned, murmuring to himself. The two turtles remained silent for a minute as Raph started the Playstation ninja training level.

"Hey Raph?" Leo asked.

"What?" Raph grumped in response.

"I have a scenario for you," Leo said, causing Raph to roll his eyes.

"Is it one of those crappy personality tests that you get in chain letter emails?" Raphael asked harshly.

"It is actually…" Leo answered.

"What is it then?" Raphael sighed, trying his best not to seem curious.

"If you were captured, lets say in our case, by one of our enemies, what would you prefer to go to? A circus or a zoo?" Leonardo asked, wondering what Raph's answer would be. 

He thought about it for a little while he completed some sections of the training level. "A zoo," Raph finally answered, eyes still glued on the ninja character he was playing.

"Why did you pick that?" Leonardo asked out of curiosity.

"Well… I think it's the whole leaping through rings of fire, and the traveling freak show thing that turns me off about staying in a circus. With a zoo, you can sort of do what you want. Besides, they might place me with a female to… you know…" Raph grinned, giving Leo a wink.

"What if the female doesn't like you?" Leonardo asked dryly.

"Well then I'm in the same position that I am in now, just I haven't been caught by Bonehead or Quease, or whoever the hell would put me in a zoo in the first place," Raphael said, concentrating hard on the screen in front of him as Rikimaru dispatched a guard. "So, according to that answer, what does that say about my personality?" Raph asked catatonically.

"Well… I read that it means that you prefer peace, regularity and structure, and that you dislike excitement and new places," Leonardo answered uncertainly.

"See. I told you that those online email personality tests were crap. You should stop wasting Don's time with them," Raphael commented. "Speaking about Don…" Raph started.

"Do you think he's still gay?" Leo asked.

"I dunno anymore. But I think Venus made him change. I reckon he's bi," Raphael falsely assumed.

"Maybe he's straight?" Leo wondered, saying it more to himself than to Raph. 

"Oh please! 'Pride and Prejudice'? It's self explanatory!" Raphael pointed out. Leonardo remained quiet for a while, still trying to understand his younger brainy, purple-wearing brother.

As if on cue, Donatello angrily strolled into the lair. Raphael and Leonardo all too easily recognised the massive bruise that had formed on his forehead. "What did she do this time?" Leo asked the stressed out turtle.

"She thought the cigarette lighter was the eject button for the CD player! Then she had the nerve to ask me why the Hummer was on fire!! I tried to stay calm, and I told her to pull over, but she thought she needed to change gears to do that, hence she pulled on that damn hand brake again!!!" Donatello explained furiously, rubbing ice onto his bruised domed head. Leonardo, Raphael and even Michelangelo couldn't help but laugh. 

Feeling humiliated at their constant laughter, Don left the main room and entered his train carriage to grab a few bits of equipment to fix the burnt upholstery in the Hummer. Satisfied with the objects he had managed to gather in his hands, he left his room only to find Venus standing outside his doorway. He studied her deeply sorrowful face. Sighing, Donatello lowered the automotive objects onto the floor, crossing his arms grumpily over his plastron when he stood back up straight.

"Don… I'm really, really sorry," Venus apologised sincerely. 

"Yeah, I know…" Don answered moodily. "I just… I don't exactly want to fix that car again!" Don whined in frustration. Feeling extremely guilty for what she had done, Venus gently held one of his talented hands.

"Well… try to look on the bright side. If you allow me to help, then we have a couple of nights to share ahead of us," Venus enticed. Even though Don didn't really need any help in fixing the car, he still couldn't help but smile at her invitation and train of thought. He looked at her sad and watery eyes, knowing in an instant that there was no way he could stay mad at her. Ignoring the stares from the rest of his intrusive family, he gently wrapped his arms around Venus' waist and pulled the female in to kiss her sweetly on the lips. Suddenly gaining a boost of happiness, Venus delicately hugged his neck, forming the kiss into a more passionate one. 

"He's bi," Leo agreed with Raph, talking quietly so that Don couldn't eavesdrop. 

"Yeah… No straight guy can kiss that good," Raphael commented, earning himself a suspicious and disturbed look from Leo. The two turtles on the couch sighed at the sight of the contented couple, and slowly returned to the game they were playing on the Playstation. They were both silent for the next few minutes, their eyes seemingly cemented to the screen. 

"I bet you ten bucks that the relationship will be over in less than three days," Raphael offered. Leonardo thought about his proposal. At least if he lost, then he could hand back Raphael's coins. Leo doubted that Raph had another one thousand one-cent pieces hidden in his room if he happened to win the bet. 

"You're on," Leo agreed and shook his brother's hand.

A/N: Well that's the end of the fic! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed typing it. The fanfic FAQ should be up for this story shortly.

The next fic I'm going to work on is most likely the sequel to 'The Glass Prison'… unless I decide to put up a _short_ story for a change. Yes, I know that I said I had no plans for a sequel, but I heard your pleas and felt sympathetic… See I'm not THAT heartless after all! Of course, I have now started my final year of schooling, which is voted by Australians to be the most stressful year of my life. So I'm going to be extremely busy (trust me. I just got my first assessment advice notice today, and it is BIG!). What I plan to do is type the whole fic up first whenever I get free time, then post it up on the web when it is completed so you guys won't have to wait months on end if things get bad with school. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my fic!


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